Give Me Wings
by christineexx
Summary: When a new girl moves to Point Place, Wisconsin from California, she brings along a nasty secret and adoring fans. Nobody can resist her charm. Everybody loves her... Except Hyde? (This was my first fic, and I consequently suggest that you don't read it. It's actually quite horrid.)
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note: I've decided to re-write some of my earlier chapters, being as there are many issues revolving around them. Throughout the course of this Fic thus far I have learned a lot, and so I'm going to re-write this.**_

_**Thanks so much for reading(:**_

* * *

The new girl couldn't help but her eyes as Steven Hyde flipped through the channels on the TV and stopped on Happy Days. She stared at the screen incredulously for a few moments before she couldn't help but ask of him, "Do you _really_ watch this shit?"

"No," he admitted, a sheepish tone in his voice. She should've guessed that from his wincing at every word that came out of the kids' mouths, but she hadn't known Hyde long enough to actually decipher his reactions. "I thought you did?"

She paused momentarily, trying to find a nicer way to put her feelings towards the show into words. When she could think of none, she simply responded: "Um… Hell no." She reached over the arm of the couch to where he was sitting in his chair and took the remote off of his leg. She flipped through channels for a bit before she landed on an all-girl car wash and grinned, deciding against flipping through any further. She tried to wipe the smile from her lips unsuccessfully as she guessed, "I betcha _this _is more your speed, huh, Hyde?"

"You're funny, kid, y'know that?" He held out his hand expectantly, waiting for her to hand over the remote to avoid possibly awkward situations that might ruin her opinion of him. "Change it to something else."

"Mmm… no," she decided, her amusement reflected in her voice. He let out a small groan and reached for the remote, but she scooted over to the left so that she was out of his reach. He climbed over the arm of the couch so that he was next to her. She slid away against the other side and extended her arm past the end of the couch. He put his hand on the back of the couch for leverage as he leaned over her. One knee rested on either side of her body and his left hand was planted directly next to her face. He easily reached over and grabbed the remote from her hand before looking down at her. "Ha-ha."

The joking mood was gone for her, however. She couldn't help but be mesmerized by his body, so close to hers… "You win," she agreed softly, gazing into his eyes. He returned the stare for a few seconds and was just about to lean in to kiss her when his friends all walked in. They stopped in their tracks immediately when they saw Hyde and the new girl practically on top of each other. Hyde pulled away from the almost-kiss and moved back to his seat. He flipped off the TV and looked over at his friends casually. "'Sup?"

"Steven," a dark-haired girl said with a tone as tight as her pants were, "Why is the new girl here?"

"I invited her," he responded before crossing his arms over his chest. He didn't even bother to look up.

That made Jackie very, _very _mad. She was a princess, and princesses hated being ignored. "Why?" she demanded.

"Why _not?_" A guy with long brown hair and movie-star good looks jumped over the back of the couch to sit next to the new girl. "I'm Kelso."

"I'm Chris," the new girl said. Recognition dawned on her and she added, "You're in my history class."

"I'm Eric," a tall, lanky guy said. "From gym."

"Oh, yeah! You're the one that couldn't do a pull-up, right?"

"That's my man," a redhead joked with a warm smile. Chris could tell just by looking at her that she would be a great person to have as a friend. "Hi, I'm Donna."

After a few moments of silence, Donna elbowed the short brunette in the ribs. "I'm Jackie," she grumbled with reluctant compliance.

A foreign guy was standing in the back of the room, simply observing the scene. When he didn't approach Chris, she got up and made her way over to him. She held out her hand and introduced herself, "I'm Chris. And you are..?"

"Fez," he said slowly, as if he couldn't believe she was talking to him. He took her hand and eagerly shook it.

"Nice to meetcha," she told him with a smile, then went back to sit next to Kelso. Eric turned the TV back on and put on _The Price Is Right_. They all watched absentmindedly for a little while before Chris felt a pair of eyes glued to her back. She warily turned her head and saw Jackie glaring at her. Chris glanced around to see if anybody else noticed.

Kelso had noticed the dirty looks instantly and comforted Chris, "She's just pissed because she isn't prettier than you."

"_Michael!_" Jackie exclaimed, a look of pure shock on her face. It was enough to make Hyde smile one of his genuine _that-was-funny_ smiles.

"…Well, this isn't awkward at all," Chris looked around the room at each of her new friends before she decided slowly, "I'm gonna split."

"Want me to walk you?" Hyde offered her in a very un-Hyde-like manner.

"Nah, I'm good." Chris smiled at him to show her appreciation as she went on, "Thanks, though. I'll call you?"

"Cool," he said dismissively, as if getting a phone call from the hottest girl in Point Place was no big deal. Then again, he was Zen. Nothing ever seemed to matter to him.

The moment the door had shut behind Chris, everyone in the gang pounced on Hyde. "_Details!" _Kelso demanded.

"It's nothing," Hyde said, only half-lying.

"You offered to walk her home," Donna pointed out, as if that solved everything. "Since when are you _nice_?"

"Who the hell _was_ that whore," Jackie growled. She hated for anybody to get attention but her, and if this little bitch thought she could just show up and take Jackie's place… she had another thing coming.

"She isn't a whore. And she's just a chick in some of my classes," Hyde responded. He couldn't help but wonder why it mattered to Jackie if Chris had come over.

"A totally _hot _chick in some of your classes!" Eric corrected Hyde, and received a smack from Donna.

"And she's _huge_," Kelso said, placing his hands in front of his chest to imitate boobs.

"Her hands are as soft as a baby's bottom," Fez sighed lovingly.

"And she's _huge,_" Kelso repeated, his gleeful smile never faltering.

"Yeah, well… I'm still the richest," Jackie said. "So _ha._"

"Jackie, you can't be _poor_ and pretty," Kelso corrected her. He looked at Hyde worriedly before checking, "Can you?"

"Her dad owns a brewery and deals pot," Hyde answered, as if that was the answer to everything. Which, in a way, it was.

"I think I _really_ like this girl," Eric said with a grin as he considered that. Free beer and free weed? He was _so _in!

"And her mom's a hooker," Hyde added solely for Fez and Kelso's benefit. Their faces brightened even further than they had at the mention of free beer and drugs.

"No wonder you offered to walk her home!" Donna exclaimed. _Leave it to Hyde to find the perfect girl and just use her…_

"I would like to meet her mother," Fez said wistfully. He was so sick of being a virgin!

"I'm gonna go catch up to her!" Kelso decided after he had soaked in all of that information. He took that opportunity to sprint through the basement to the outside, and smiled when he saw her track of footprints in the November slush.

* * *

Chris heard pounding footfalls behind her and looked back fearfully, ready to bolt if she saw—

She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw who it wasn't and then laughed when she saw who it _was._ Chris waited for Kelso to catch up to her before she began to talk to anything. When her teeth stopped chattering enough she inquired, "What're you doing out in the cold?"

"I couldn't let you walk home by yourself," he explained as he began to trudge down the street next to her.

"Thanks," she said, then shivered. "It's freaking cold out here…"

He put his arm around her shoulders and drew her slightly nearer. "Better?"

"You're _really _warm," Chris commented appreciatively, and snuggled up against him inside of his coat. They walked for a little bit before they approached her house. She unlocked the door and said, "Wait a sec…" She ducked her head inside for a moment before opening the door wide. "C'mon in, Kelso."

He followed her inside and gazed around the kitchen. "You've got a nice place."

"Want something to drink?" she asked him as she walked over to a refrigerator.

"Sure."

"You eighteen yet?" she inquired, acting as if it would matter to her whether or not he was of legal age.

Kelso stared at her with an incredulous look on his face, wondering if she legitimately cared what his age was. He paused before deciding to answer with an honest, "Sixteen."

"Seventeen here. Close enough." She reached into the fridge and tossed him a beer.

"Nice."

"You know it." She held up her can. "To new beginnings," she decided.

"To new beginnings," he agreed.

"WE DID IT! CHRIS AND I DID IT!" Kelso screamed as he rushed into the Basement. He jumped on the couch and proclaimed, "I AM THE KING!"

* * *

_**A/N: So? Like the re-write?(:**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author's Note: So, I'm officially re-writing this one as well. Hell yes. :D**_

_**In addition, this author's note has no purpose but to be an author's note. Yes. Indeed. :D**_

* * *

Chris was sitting next to Hyde in science class, watching vinegar and baking soda fizz up and bubble over. Their chairs were a little too close to each other, and their arms were touching slightly. Chris's attention was evenly split between the assignment and reveling in Hyde's body heat. However, he made it clear that he had other things in mind when he said, "So…"

Chris paused, not quite sure what to respond to that. She began sketching the chemical reaction occurring in front of them and decided to answer with a hesitant, "So."

He shuffled almost _uncomfortably _before shifting his gaze to meet hers. "I, uh, heard about you and Kelso."

"What about me and Kelso?" she asked absentmindedly.

He rolled his eyes at her ignorance and enunciated his point by clarifying what he meant. "What you did. Yesterday."

Chris thought back to all she had done yesterday with Kelso. When all she could come with was walking to her house, playing beer pong for an hour, and then waving him goodbye, she frowned. She really hadn't expected _Hyde _to be a prude. "What about it?"

He shrugged absently, trying to make it seem like he couldn't care less about the 'fact' that she did it with his best friend. "I don't know," he lied. "I just figured you might want to know that he's spreading it around."

Chris returned his nonchalant shrug with one of her own. She debated whether she minded the school knowing that she drank and decided that it could be a hell of a lot worse. "It's not like a big deal or anything. Everyone does it."

He stared at her with an incredulous look in his sunglass-covered eyes and wondered if she was _really _that easy. "You know," he said drily, "I never would have pegged you as being a whore."

She stopped sketching the vinegar and baking soda in front of her instantly. She put her pencil down and once again repeated his actions by giving him an incredulous stare of her own. _"Excuse me?_" She glared at him and demanded, "I have a few drinks with a guy and all of a sudden I'm a _whore_?"

"No," he explained with a tone in his voice that clearly showed how exasperated with the game he thought she was playing. "You're a whore because you did it with a guy you just met."

She frowned and cocked her head to the side confusedly. She couldn't help but wonder how stupid she looked at the moment as she questioned, "Did what?"

He looked at her like she was stupid; he hated when people played dumb. Sure, he did it all the time, but it got on his nerves when other people did it. He decided to just spell it out for her and said, "Had sex. With Kelso."

Her jaw dropped as she stared at him with a look of complete and utter shock. She slammed her jaw shut after she realized it was open and hissed, _"What?_"

Hyde frowned and his eyebrows furrowed as he wondered whether or not Kelso was the most reliable source for information. "He said that—"

"And you _believed _him? Why the hell would I…? You… you're… you… UGH!" She threw her seat backwards in a storm of blind fury and stormed out of the classroom.

The teacher, upon hearing chris's chair scrape the floor, jumped to her feet. She ran over to the door and yelled into the hallway, "Miss Steele! Get back in this classroom immediately!"

Chris ignored her and made her way down to the English classroom. She knocked on the door and walked in with a sweet smile. "Hi, Mr. Gear. I'm really sorry to interrupt, but Mrs. Sanchez would like to see Michael Kelso."

"Make it quick," Mr. Gear said, and waved him out. Kelso followed Chris out of the classroom and asked, "Why does Mrs. Sanchez want to see me? Did she find out that I was the one who set off those bottle rockets?"

Chris rolled her eyes at his stupidity level. She bit her tongue to keep from saying something venomous and instead responded with a simplified, "No."

A frown overtook Kelso's features as he tried to piece together a possible reason for why his science teacher would want to see him. When he thought of about a million reasons why he could possibly be in trouble, he decided to just ask instead of guessing. "Then… what does she need me for?"

Chris pursed her lips together as she debated how to respond. After a moment's hesitation she decided to admit, "She doesn't."

Kelso's frown turned into a large grin as he processed that new piece of information. He realized what that meant and confirmed with a suggestive tone in his voice, "_You _do?"

Chris chose that it was best to just agree with him on that one. "Something like that…" She glanced around and, as she realized that this would be the best way to get to him, she asked, "Is there anywhere we can go and be alone? I feel like if I don't get you away from everyone else soon I might explode."

Kelso's grin widened as he came to the conclusion that Chris was just like every other girl he'd met: she wanted him, and bad. He grabbed her hand and led her into the boys' bathroom. He let his grip fall slack as the door swung shut behind them. He banged his fist against each of the stalls, making sure that nobody was in them. A kid exited the third stall Kelso banged on almost immediately and made his way over to the sinks. Kelso, however, shoved his scrawny shoulder and commanded, "Get out."l

The kid looked down at his hands and then shifted his gaze to the sink before whining, "But—"

_"Now,_" Kelso demanded angrily. The kid, who was obviously used to getting beaten up, ran away in fear. The second the door to the bathroom shut, Kelso turned his attention to Chris and smiled perversely. He took a provocative step closer to her and said seductively, "So… you wanted me?"

Chris grabbed two fistfuls of his shirt and whirled him around so that she could shove him against the wall. "What the _hell _is your problem, Kelso?"

His eyes widened and his mouth fell agape as he was completely caught off guard. He stared at her for a moment before asking out of pure shock, "What?"

She glared at him in response, pissed beyond all belief. She fought the urge to slap him as she clenched her jaw and seethed, "You told everyone that we did it!"

Kelso smiled sheepishly as he said, "Oh… _that_."

The fact that he didn't even try to deny it or make excuses actually pissed Chris off even further. She pulled him forward and slammed him back again as she exclaimed, "You _know _that we didn't!"

His eyebrows rose and he grinned at her again, angling his head so that it was closer to her. "Or did we?"

The scowl on her face said it all, but she knew he was slow so she decided to clarify for him verbally. _"No!"_

His grin widened even further as he informed her, "That can be changed."

Her jaw dropped in astonishment. This wasn't her first time dealing with a pervert, but the fact that one could possibly be trying to get in her pants while getting in trouble for _trying _to get in her pants just completely blew her mind. "Are you _seriously _hitting on me right now?"

He looked her in the eye, and when he saw shock instead of anger he decided that she wouldn't hit him and it wasn't worth denying. "Maybe."

She scowled at him and exclaimed, "I swear, Kelso, you make me want to kick your ass _so bad _sometimes!"

He stared at her petite figure and completely disregarded her threat. "Like you could," he scoffed.

Chris cocked an eyebrow at him, silently asking if he was really questioning her. When his question didn't falter she asked, "Wanna bet?"

* * *

Hyde walked down the empty hallway apprehensively, looking for any sign that Chris had been there. He saw a nerd at his locker and shoulder-checked him. "Yo. You seen Kelso?"

The kid, who happened to be the same one that Kelso had kicked out earlier, looked up at Hyde in fear. Not wanting to get beat up he stammered nervously, "He— he's in the bathroom."

Hyde shoved him out of his way and stormed in the bathroom. He frowned when he saw Kelso in a fetal position and Chris crying on Eric's shoulder in the corner.

Kelso propped himself up on one elbow, holding his face with one hand as he pushed himself further into a sitting position. He was laughing as he said, "That chick can throw a punch."

"None of this _ever _leaves here," Chris threatened them all, the menacing effect ruined by her weepy tone.

Hyde stared at the broken girl that had Eric's arm around her. His eyes flashed between Chris and Kelso as he demanded, "What the hell happened?"

Chris shook her head and rested her head on Eric's shoulder as she mumbled, "Nothing."

Hyde frowned, trying to piece everything together. He started with the obvious: "Well, you obviously kicked the shit out of Kelso—"

Kelso piped up and interrupted Hyde to cheerfully agree, "I'll have a shiner by morning."

Hyde completely ignored his friend's comment as he went on, "But why the hell is Forman here? And why are _you_ crying?"

Chris scowled at him and exclaimed defensively, "I am _not _crying, you dillhole!"

Hyde rolled his eyes at her— he found it amusing that she tried to deny the obvious fact that she was sitting on the floor of the guys' bathroom bawling. "Chyeah, alright. Good luck with that."

"I don't know what went on," Eric told Hyde helpfully. "I only came in about a minute or so before you did."

Chris lifted her head off of his shoulder to turn her head and send a dirty look to each boy individually. After she was done glaring she insisted, "_Nothing _went on," Chris insisted.

Hyde scowled right back at her, not caring what her reaction to it was. He was through with her trying to bullshit him. "Chris…" he said warningly.

Eric interrupted their banter to exclaim, "Guys!" When all eyes were on him, a smile spread across his lips and he said with a reassuring tone in his voice, "I know how to fix this."

* * *

"This is fun," Chris said with a grin as she looked around the smoke-filled basement at her friends. "This is a fun time."

"My face hurts," Kelso said solemnly, referring to where Chris had punched him. His serious expression suddenly turned into a grin as he began to poke the bruise repeatedly. "HAHAHA! Ow. HAHAHA! Ow. HAHAHA!"

"Did you guys know that I have really bushy hair?" Hyde asked, his eyes wide with concern. He placed his hands on his head and felt all over. "Not even, like, regular bushy. Like… REALLY bushy."

A goofy grin lit up Kelso's face as he began laughing at Hyde's comment. "Haha… Bush… HAHAHA! Ow. HAHAHA!" Kelso began again.

"I have a secret," Eric said, glancing around with a look of suspense in his eyes. "There's a new girl in my gym class… and she's prettier than my girlfriend…"

"ERIC! Shhh!" Hyde said with a tone of urgency as he glanced around frantically. "She's _right there._"

Chris looked around with a slight frown, wondering where in the hell this so-called pretty girl is. "Where?"

Hyde stuck a finger directly at Chris and exclaimed, "Look! _Right there!_"

Chris's eyes shot up above her then down below her. She casted her gaze around the room skeptically and when she found no girls demanded, _"Where?"_

Hyde slowly lowered his hand and a frown crossed his face. He continued looking at Chris before casting his gaze downward and sighed sad. "…She's gone now."

* * *

_**A/N: Chris's first circle… Aww yeahh. :D**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's Note: Hey guys! Thanks for reading "Give Me Wings"… I would really appreciate it if you guys reviewed this, being as it's my first FanFic. Thanks so much(:**_

Everyone was sitting around the Basement as per usual when Fez ran in, almost butt-naked. "I cannot find my pants!" He noticed that Chris, Donna, and Jackie were all there and froze. "Hello, ladies…"

"….Hey, Fez," Chris said reluctantly.

"Sadly, this is normal," Donna informed her.

"I'm starting to think that we're all just a little too close," Jackie said.

"Jackie, you can go home at any time," Hyde informed her. "Really. Nobody wants you here. It's perfectly alright if you want to leave."

"Yeah, but if I left, how would I make _you_ miserable?" she retorted.

"Usually breathing works," he informed her. "The idea that you exist is annoying enough."

"Aren't _you_ just so clever?"

Eric turned his attention away from their spat and asked Fez, "So, uh… exactly _why _aren't you wearing any pants?"

"I cannot find my lucky pants! How am I supposed to go on a date if I don't have my lucky pants?"

"How did _you_ get a date?" Jackie asked. "You barely speak English!"

"Yeah. Fez, I doubt that your 'lucky pants' are going to help you any," Eric said.

"Who do you have a date with?" Chris asked.

"A woman named Shelly," he said proudly.

Chris's smile faded. "Does she know you're under eighteen?"

"No! That is the beauty of it!"

"Fez? Do me a favor and don't go on the date?"

"The new girl's jealous!" Jackie exclaimed obnoxiously.

"No, actually, I'm not. I just don't want my mother to go to jail for dating a minor."

"Fez is doing your _mom!" _Hyde exclaimed.

"Yeah, well, everyone _else _in the world is doing yours," Chris retorted frostily.

"BURN!" Kelso exclaimed. Hyde promptly punched his arm.

"Your mom must be _ugly _if she's desperate enough to screw Fez," Jackie said.

"Not really," Chris managed, playing with her thumbs to avoid looking at anybody.

"Well then, why don't you introduce us?" Jackie taunted, desperate to find a flaw in this girl so that she could exploit it, forever ruin Chris's life, and regain her rightful spot at the top of the world.

"Her shift starts right when we get out of school. She's usually gone before I get home, and she's not back until after I leave," Chris mumbled.

"We have a half day of school tomorrow because of the voting," Donna pointed out. "Why don't we meet her then?"

"...Great," she forced herself to say.

"We can meet you at the front doors of the school and go to your place from there," Eric added.

"My… my place?"

"Yeah. Unless you have a problem with that?"

"Why would she have a problem with it? She let Kelso over," Hyde said.

"Which was a big mistake on her part," Kelso added with a grin.

"You bet it was. Dillhole," Chris agreed, forcing back a small smile.

"So we're good for tomorrow?" Jackie asked.

"Um… Yeah, I guess," Chris decided. "I, uh, gotta bounce though… I'll see you guys tomorrow…"

"You sure you can't stay?" Eric asked.

"As much as I love being in a room with a pants-less Fez, I'll have to pass. I promised someone I'd meet them at the Hub, and I'll literally be dead if I'm not there by five-thirty."

"It's five-thirty now," Donna pointy out.

"….SHIT. I _really _gotta bounce then… I'll uh, see you later. I think." She rushed out the door.

* * *

"What happened to your face?" Hyde asked as the gang all walked towards Chris's house.

Chris covered her black eyes with her hand and smiled weakly. "I'm a klutz. I tripped and smacked my face on the handlebars on my bike- stupid, right?"

"Unbelievably stupid," he agreed skeptically.

Chris bounded up the steps and opened the door. She let out a small squeak and slammed it shut, and a crash immediately followed.

"What just happened?" Donna asked worriedly.

"Um… You guys wait out here, alright? I have to check things out inside… I'll be right back." She cracked the door just enough so that she could slip inside, and closed it immediately. The gang swiftly relocated to a nearby open window where they could hear everything.

"I wonder who threw the beer bottle," Eric commented, looking at the shattered glass by the door.

"That would've hurt if it had hit her," Kelso added.

"That was the intention, dillhole," Hyde said.

"I don't _care _what you want or need!" a male voice boomed, interrupting their conversation.

"Yeah, but-" Chris said softly.

"Get the hell out! Get out of my house! NOW!" They heard a smack and a crash, and a few seconds later, Chris slunk out of the door, the right side of her face red. "She's, uh, otherwise occupied at the moment," she whispered, voice cracking. "Maybe you can meet her some other time…"

"Maybe after my date," Fez added.

"Fez… I honestly don't think that date is a good idea…"

"Why not?" he challenged.

"Just… trust me. You'll not only get my mom arrested, but the guy in there will—uh, never mind. Just forget it."

There was an awkward silence before Eric asked, "Well, uh, do you guys want to head back to my place?"

Chris smiled. "I'd love—"

_"CHRISTINA STEELE! GET YOUR ASS BACK IN HERE!"_

"…I, uh, can't… I'll see you guys at school…" She glanced back at the house nervously and added, "Probably…"

"Alright," Jackie said. Everyone began to leave, but when they saw that Hyde wasn't following, Donna asked, "You coming or what?"

"I'll catch up," Hyde told them. Once they were gone, he said, "Come anyway."

"I thought about it… but, I mean, it's not like I ever go anywhere besides the Basement and the Hub. It wouldn't exactly be difficult to find me," Chris admitted.

"So let's go somewhere else. We can chill at my place."

"But—"

_"CHRISTINA! DON'T MAKE ME COME OUT THERE!"_

Chris didn't even hesitate before grabbing Hyde's hand and running away.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Author's Note: Heyy guys! It's me again(: This chapter is legit a thousand times longer than the first three(: But anyways, thank you so much for reading and please review! Let me know how to make this better(:**_

Chris followed Hyde into his house and looked around at the mess. Before he could even say something about it, she cleared off an area of the couch and sat. "I thought you lived with the Formans in the basement."

"I do. I moved in a month or so ago when my mom skipped town," he answered nonchalantly, making himself a seat on an old recliner.

"Oh. Sorry."

"It's no big deal. Beats living in this dump."

"You aren't very good with feelings, huh?"

"Can't be good with something you don't have."

"It would be a good point, if it applied to you," she decided. A half-eaten container caught on the table caught her eyes and she asked, "About how old would you say this pudding cup is?"

"Huh. I guess I never threw that thing out." He looked at her and said, "Very. There's probably mold and bugs and dust all over it."

"…Do you think it's edible?"

"Would a girl of your status _really _be willing to eat a pudding cup that's been sitting out for two months?"

"Of _what _status?" she asked incredulously.

"Well… you know… Perfect."

"Trust me, honey. I am the absolute _furthest _thing from perfect." She took a spoonful and ate it thoughtfully. "Hmm… It really isn't all that bad."

"You're disgusting," he told her appreciatively.

"Says _you._" She held out a spoonful and grinned. "You want some?"

"Naw— I had my half of the cup back when it was fresh."

"So this was yours?"

"Indeed it was."

"Well then, technically, being as this spoon has passed through both of our mouths, we have, in essence, made out."

"You really do have a messed up head, huh?"

"Yep!" she said cheerfully.

There was a moment of silence between them while Chris took another bite of pudding before Hyde asked, "So who was that guy?"

"What guy?"

"The one in your house."

"Oh… He was one of my mom's long-term clients. It's kind of funny, actually… My dad came to Point Place to get away from us, we moved to Point Place to get away from the guy… And here we all are."

"What's his name?"

"I don't know. He said that in nightmares, the faces don't come with names…"

"And neither does he," Hyde finished.

"Exactly."

After a few more moments of silence— but not the content kind of silence, the upsetting kind— Chris got up and sat on the arm of the chair that Hyde was sitting in. He lifted his arm and draped it around her waist, so she leaned into him a little bit.

"So, uh, thanks," Chris said uncomfortably after a little bit.

"For what?"

"Convincing me to leave. But if he kills me later, I blame you," she joked.

"You don't _have _to go back," he pointed out.

"What other option is there? I can't hide forever."

"But you can hide for the night. Here, I mean. He usually isn't there when you get home from school, right?"

"I'd be way too freaked out to stay here by myself," she admitted sheepishly. "I get really nervous when I'm by myself, especially at night. I'd be jumping at every shadow."

"I didn't say you would stay by yourself."

"Hmm?"

"You get the couch, I'll take the recliner," he said simply.

"What about the morning? How are we supposed to get ready?"

"Can't you go a day without—"

"I'm a girl, remember?"

He rolled his eyes. "I have a shirt here that you can wear. And there's bound to be make-up and such in my mom's room."

"Problem solved," she confirmed with a grin.

"I have to step out though— make sure the gang doesn't think I'm dead or anything. Will you be alright for half an hour?"

"Yep!"

"Cool. I'll be back." He removed his arm from her body and left. She was surprised at how much colder and more alone she felt without his touch, but chose to ignore it. She walked into the kitchen where she knew was a phone and dialed the club that her mother spent all her time at.

"Hello, this is Dirty Girlz, how may I help you," a nasally woman's voice droned.

"Is Shelly Steele there?"

"Did you want to schedule an appointment, or buy tickets to a show?"

"I'm her daughter. I just need to give her a message."

"Alright sweetie, wait a moment."

A minute or two passed before Shelly's raspy voice came on. "Hello?"

"Hey, Mom. It's Chris. I'm gonna be out all night, okay? Don't come looking for me or anything."

"Wasn't plannin' on it, darlin'. You know I ain't gonna be home neither."

"So it's cool?"

"Just be back by my birthday. I expect an expensive present," she said, and hung up.

Chris rolled her eyes at her mother's amazing maternal instinct and placed the phone down. She looked around the house and started cleaning up a bit: throwing out garbage, stacking magazines, throwing all the clothes strewn across the floor into Hyde's mother's room. She didn't do anything major, but it really did make a huge difference. She had just finished cleaning up the couch and recliner when Hyde walked in.

"Huh," he said as he walked in. "It looks like a girl came in."

"Funny how that happens, huh?"

"You do realize that before we leave in the morning I'm going to completely wreck the place again, right?"

"I'll help," she offered. "_You _deserve better than the mess this place was. Based on what I've heard, your mother does not."

"I would strongly agree with the second half of that statement."

She looked at him blankly. "You really aren't aware of how amazing you are, are you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Do you know that you're perfect?"

"What?"

"Do you think you're perfect?"

"Why—"

"Answer the question."

"Nobody's perfect."

"You said I was."

"I'm a hypocrite. Shoot me."

She studied his face for a bit before asking, "Do you always wear shades?"

"Not _always_." He took them off. "See?"

Chris got lost in his eyes for a bit before saying, "Yeah." She forced herself to look away, and a little chill went through her when he put his arm around her waist again. _Don't, _she scolded herself. "So, uh, what are we gonna do?"

"Well, we could go out."

"What?"

"The Hub. The gang's all going there soon. We could ask him to swing by and give us a ride over with them— I figure you don't care much for nighttime strolls."

"That would be correct."

"Sure."

"Alright. I'll give Eric a shout." He got up and walked into the kitchen, once again leaving Chris craving his touch. She slid off of the arm of the recliner to the seat where Hyde had been. He returned after a few seconds, saw her in his seat, and mock-frowned. "Oh, I see how it is," he said as he sat on the couch as close to her as he could get.

"So, uh…" Chris began to say something but lost the courage.

"Spit it out," he advised.

"Well… I'm just wondering… about you."

"Me?"

"You."

"What about me?"

She sighed and bit the inside of her lip. "Nothing… Well, no. that's a lie. Everything. I'm curious about you. Your life, family, relationships…" She caught his closed-off look and added quickly, "Please don't get all freaked out on me. Don't close yourself off. I just… I'm curious. And it's not like you've got this horrible life and I'm perfect. We're both pretty low on the quality-of-life scale."

"There really isn't that much to tell. I've lived here my whole life. My dad left when I was a kid. My mom left two and a half months ago. They're both alcoholics. The Formans took me in."

She could sense that she wasn't going to get anything else from him— years of pretending not to care had gotten to him— so she changed the subject. "So, what's the deal with that Jackie chick? She really does _not _seem to like me. Like, at all."

"She just hates not being the center of attention. She didn't like everyone drooling over you instead of her."

"I don't think that she likes that you spend so much time with me," Chris added.

"Huh."

"You guys went out, right?"

"Well, she stalked me forever. And we went on _a _date. We didn't actually date-date."

"…Huh."

"It all boils down to how much of a bitch she is that day."

"…Oh."

"What?" He looked at her slight, uneasy frown; studied the way she was biting her lip. "Did my calling Jackie a bitch in some way offend you? Because… well, you're gonna have to get used to that."

A small smile leaked its way out. "No, I kind of agree. It's just… Nevermind."

"Just spit it out, kid."

"I don't think you're over Jackie," she said as quickly as she could. She had to get it out before she lost her confidence.

He looked at her blankly. "Do you have some kind of mental handicap that I should know about?"

"No. It's just really obvious—"

"Chris, I don't think you understand the premises of _hating _someone."

"Trust me— you don't hate her. You're just pretending to hate her as a subconscious reaction because what you _really _hate is the idea of being in love with her. Which you are."

"That's the most disgusting thing that's ever heard in my entire life," he concluded. "But, Chris…" His sentence trailed off as he leaned in to kiss her.

"Hyde! Chris!" Eric pounded on the door. "If you're not out here in three seconds, I'm coming in!"

"Maybe it's for the best," Chris whispered her lips about half an inch away from his. If she wanted… _No. Don't go there. _She instead began to get up.

Hyde moved backward, mimicking her actions so that she could get up. Once they were both on their feet, he gestured for her to walk in front of him.

"Taking your time, as always," Eric joked as he held the door open for them.

"Yeah. Pretty much." Hyde followed Chris out the door and sat in the back next to Fez.

Chris gazed at the full car awkwardly before Kelso patted his lap and said, "Get 'er up here!" She laughed, ignored the '_you-better-not'_ look she was getting from Hyde, climbed over him and Fez, and sat on Kelso's lap. Kelso pulled her back so it was pressing against his chest and explained, "Better get close. We need to buckle for safety purposes and all."

Hyde glared at the two the entire time.

* * *

Chris was about to feast on a quarter-pounder at the Hub when she looked up. "Who thinks they can eat one of these faster than I can?"

"That's _disgusting,_" Jackie spat.

"What's disgusting is how unevenly you applied your cover-up," Chris retorted.

"I can," Fez told Chris as he walked over with the same burger.

"I'll time it," Donna offered with a grin. "Ready? Set? GO!"

Chris and Fez devoured their burgers like homeless dogs that hadn't eaten in weeks. The burgers were there and gone within a minute. However, Chris finished her burger about two seconds before Fez finished his. Chris looked at Fez's disgustingly messy face and laughed, because she didn't have a drop of food on hers.

"Holy _crap, _Fez," Kelso exclaimed. "You just got beat by a _girl!_"

"A _skinny _girl!" Eric added.

"In an _eating _contest," Hyde contributed.

"I know, I know," Fez grumbled. "I was there."

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom," Chris decided. "Donna? Jackie? You wanna come?"

They followed her in, and Chris began applying make-up in the mirror. "So, guys… Any guys in your lives?"

"Eric is perfect," Donna said with a grin.

"Why?" Jackie asked cautiously.

"Just curious. I don't want to go anywhere you guys would advise against going, y'know?"

"Well, I dated Michael for four years. He's a cheating dillhole. Definitely stay away. And Steven… ugh."

"Yeah… he told me about you guys."

"He told you?" she asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

"Everything," Chris confirmed.

"…Huh. How un-Steven-like."

"And, uh... what about Fez?"

"Nobody would even _think _about dating Fez," Jackie scoffed.

"Why not?" Chris asked in shock. "He's cute, and he seems really sweet."

"He's a whore," Donna said.

"And _foreign,_" Jackie added with disgust.

"…Huh." She stepped back. "I'm done."

"Let's go," Donna chided.

"I still need the mirror," Jackie countered.

"I'll wait with you," Chris offered.

"I won't!" Donna left.

"So… You and Steven, huh?" Jackie asked.

"Not so much," Chris admitted.

"Why not?"

"He's not into me like that. He's head-over-heels for someone else."

"Who?"

"Well… to be honest, I don't think he's over you."

"As if _any_ guy would choose me over you…"

"Are you serious? Out of the two of us, _you're _the obvious choice."

"You're delusional," Jackie told her, and walked out of the bathroom.

Chris walked after her, but caught sight of someone outside the doors of the Hub and froze. She rushed over to Eric immediately and asked, "Is there a back exit?"

"What?"

"Back exit. Please." She looked at him frantically, panic in her eyes.

"Um… straight behind you on the left," he said slowly, confused but deciding that if something had her this freaked out it was probably better to ask questions later.

Chris darted down the hall and out the door immediately, shutting it behind her loudly. She paced back and forth outside, not knowing which way she should go. She was only a few seconds into her mental breakdown when Hyde pushed through the door and appeared in front of her. "What's going on?"

"The guy… He... In the Hub… and… _we have to go,_" Chris explained breathlessly.

"What? Why?"

The doorknob began to turn behind them, so Chris shoved Hyde in front of her and began to sprint. She was just about to follow Hyde around the corner when a hand grabbed her shoulder and whirled her around. She couldn't do anything other than stare at her mother's 'boyfriend' and gape in horror as he shook her and demanded, "Where the hell were you? I _told you _to come back in! And why the hell were you _running _from me?"

"I— just— I—" she stammered nervously.

Hyde rounded the corner to see where Chris had gone just in time to watch the palm of this guy's hand connect to her face and send her flying to the ground. The man was leaning over Chris and had just opened his mouth to yell at her when Hyde said, "Hey, man."

He straightened up just in time for H_y_de to punch him in the face. Hyde grabbed Chris's arm, pulled her to her feet, and walked over to Eric inside the Hub. "Yo, Forman. Drive me and Chris back over to my old place, would ya?"

Everyone stared at Chris, noting her red face, teary eyes, and torn/blood-stained jeans. Eric took in her condition for a second before asking, "Why don't you just walk?"

"She looks like she's about to faint, man. Will you give us a ride or not?"

Eric nodded. "I'll be right back," he told the rest of the gang, and followed Chris and Hyde out the door.

The moment they were through the door, Jackie exclaimed, "Ten bucks says Hyde beat her up!"

Fez rolled his eyes. "Jackie, that is _ridiculous! _Hyde would never hurt a woman." He looked at Donna and added, "…Would he?"

"Of course he wouldn't, you dillhole!" Kelso exclaimed. He looked at Donna and said, "You know, we always say that. What _is _a dillhole, anyway?"

"…You, Kelso. _You _are a dillhole," she informed him.

"Ah-burn," Fez chanted with a grin.

* * *

Chris winced as Hyde held her head under her chin and turned her face so that he could see her injuries better. "Ow," she whined.

"Deal with it," he advised as he let go. "You look fine. Nothing too bad." He frowned and added, "You alright?"

"Yeah. I'm used to it." She chuckled bitterly and added, "That was a really stupid thing to do."

"What was I supposed to do?" he asked. "Let him beat the living shit out of you?"

"I never said that I didn't _appreciate _it, Hyde."

"Then don't call me stupid."

"Sorry." They stared into each other's eyes for a little bit before Chris forced herself to pull away from his gaze. She got off the table she was sitting on and collapsed on his couch. "I think I'm gonna, uh, hit the sack…"

"Uh… yeah. Me too," Hyde agreed quickly. He shut off the lights and sat on his recliner, scowling at how uncomfortable it was.

Chris stared blankly into the darkness for a few minutes before she said softly, "Hyde?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks," she whispered before she allowed unconsciousness to claim her.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Author's Note: There's really absolutely no purpose behind this author's note other than to waste space and have an author's note… But yeah. :D I would greatly appreciate some reviews? Yesplz. :D Oh, and also, this chapter is going to be extremely short just because the next scene wouldn't fit in with these ones. :P**_

"Jackie, you're being _such _a dillhole," Donna exclaimed.

"I am _not, _Bigfoot!" Jackie squeaked in response.

"Don't go spreading things that you don't know are true."

"I'm a _cheerleader, _Donna! What else am I supposed to do?" Jackie sighed when she saw Donna's exasperated stare and added, "Well, alright. What _else _could have possibly happened? I mean, she left just fine. He followed her and she came back all beat up."

"Well… what _possible _reason would he have to beat her up? I mean, he's trying to get in her pants, not kill her."

Hyde and Chris walked onto the schoolyard just then. Chris glanced around before stepping a little closer to Hyde and whispering, "Everyone's staring at us."

He shrugged and draped his arm around her shoulders. "Let 'em," he decided as he led her over to where the gang was. "How's it going?" he asked them as they approached.

Jackie had other things on her mind. "Are you wearing Steven's shirt?" she demanded of Chris.

"What? Oh. Um, yeah," she answered uncomfortably, pulling down on the hem of it.

"_Why?_" she asked harshly.

"I passed out on his couch while we were hanging out at his mom's place last night," Chris answered, only half-lying. "He didn't want to wake me up so I spent the night there. He was nice enough to let me borrow his shirt."

"You did it, didn't you?" Eric asked.

"No, you dillhole," Chris grumbled.

"You at least saw her getting changed, though, right?" Kelso begged. "Please tell me you didn't _completely _waste your time with her."

"Of course I didn't," Hyde assured Chris when she looked up at him with a bemused cocked eyebrow. The moment she turned her head, Hyde nodded, grinned, and flashed a thumbs-up at the gang.

* * *

"I don't get it," Donna said dumbfoundedly as she stared at Chris in gym class. "She can have _any _guy she wants, and yet she chooses to be with Hyde."

"I don't know," Eric agreed as he—along with every other guy in the room— watched Chris stretch. "Maybe she wants to piss off her parents?"

"It isn't the easiest task in the world to disappoint a drug dealer and a prostitute," she disagreed. "Maybe she genuinely likes him more than all of the insanely hot, muscular, smart jocks that don't have a track record and would love to be her boyfriend."

"Her parents would probably welcome Hyde with open arms and a bottle of booze." Eric decided to ignore the second half of her comment.

"He's probably the luckiest son of a bitch in Point Place," Donna commented.

"Nah," Hyde said as he climbed down the bleachers to sit between the couple.

"What are you doing here?" Eric asked in shock.

"Same thing as every other guy in here is doing—including you, Foreplay. Don't you already have a chick?" Hyde answered,

"What're you—" Eric saw Donna's warning glance and smiled wide. "Just kidding! You know I love you baby."

"…You're a dumbass," she informed him before asking Hyde, "And what do you mean, '_Nah'_? Any guy would kill to have Chris."

"Including me," he said. "She's playing hard-to-get. She wouldn't even kiss me, despite the fact that I saved her ass last night."

"Oh, yeah!" Eric exclaimed. "I've been meaning to ask you what that was about."

"…I should, uh… probably get back to History," Hyde decided. He stood and began walking away when Chris caught sight of him. Unlike Eric and Donna, he didn't notice the way her face lit up when she saw him. She bounded over to him and said breathlessly, "Hey Hyde!"

"Hey."

"What're you doing here? Did you switch classes or something?"

"Naw— I just had to get something for one of the teachers."

"Oh," she said, the smile fading from her face. "So… you're gonna be going soon?"

"Yeah. I should probably get back to History…"

"Um… Yeah! Yeah. Totally. I'll, uh, see you later?"

"Yeah. Totally."

A grin returned and she said, "Great! Awesome. Later. I'll, uh, see you. Later."

"Yeah," he said slowly. "Right. Later."

Chris sighed as she watched him push past her and walk away.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Author's Note: This chapter is gonna be a bit longer than the last one… I know it took longer than the other ones to get posted, but I really (to be honest) just didn't enjoy writing this chapter at ALL because I hate Casey Kelso with a passion. Not to give anything away(; Anyways, sorry for the wait and I really appreciate all the support! :D …Oh, and also, some of my adverbs I'm not sure are actually words, but I used them anyways. So sorry if they're not, but if you really care all that much, you shouldn't be reading the writing of a fourteen-year-old. (:**_

Chris was standing in PriceMart staring at a wide selection of chocolates when a voice said over her shoulder, "I would go with the variety box of truffles."

"Thank—" she began to say, but froze as soon as she caught sight of him. Before her was the most beautiful man that she had _ever _seen.

"I'm Casey," the guy said.

It took her a moment to be able to think straight enough to come up with her own name. "I'm, uh… Chris. Chris Steele."

He eyes her basket of groceries. "Need help with that?"

"No, it's alright," she told him with a smile. "It's not that heavy."

"It'll get heavier the farther you walk with it," he informed her.

"It isn't that far to the register," she pointed out.

"But it's further to your car."

"I don't have a car."

"Did you want a ride?"

She stared at him blankly before another smile emerged. "Yeah. I'd, uh… I'd like that."

"Cool." He stared at her figure while she paid, but quickly looked back up to her face when she turned to face him. He placed his hand on her back and led her through the parking lot over to his car. Once they were driving, he asked, "So, uh— you go to school?"

"Uh-huh. I go to the high school… What about you? I haven't seen you around."

"I graduated last year."

"Ohh. That explains why I haven't seen you around— I'm new here."

"That's interesting," he said, not at all interested.

"Yeah. I just came from California."

"California, huh?" he asked, perking up a little bit. From what he'd heard, all the girls from California were total sluts. "No wonder you're so, uh…" He thought better of what he was going to say and decided, "...tan."

"Thanks, I guess." She looked down at her arms and asked him, "What about you? How long have you lived in Point Place?"

"Pretty much my whole life."

"So I take it you've heard of that new burger place that just opened up?"

"Yeah."

She frowned and pried further, "I've been wanting to try it."

"Cool."

Chris rolled her eyes and decided that there was no getting around this guy. He was almost as insightful as Kelso. "Do you think maybe you would wanna go sometime?" She remembered his cluelessness and added for extra measure, "With me?"

"Sure," he decided.

"Alright, cool." She pointed out the window. "That's my place right there on the left."

"….What?"

"It's on the left."

He pulled into her driveway and gazed around. "Nice place you got."

"Thanks." She looked over at him and asked, "Wanna come inside? I'd feel bad letting you drive me and then not at least having a beer with you or something."

Casey raised an eyebrow. Free beer? A hot girl? He was so there. "Yeah, sounds good." He followed her into the house and sat on her kitchen counter. "Like I said, Steele— nice place ya got."

"Thanks," Chris repeated. She finished putting away the groceries and opened the chocolate box with a small smile. "Which chocolate do you want?" she asked as she lightly bit one end of it and held it in her mouth.

"I like the dark chocolate with the coconut," he told her.

She turned to her head to him apologetically and held out the rest of the chocolates; the only one missing was the one he wanted, which was currently resting in her mouth. He leaned over so that he could reach and bit the chocolate in half, his lips just barely brushing hers. She smiled, surprised, and when trusted herself to speak inquired, "Do you want to, uh, go in the living room…?"

"You go ahead. I'm gonna grab us each a drink real fast."

She smiled and went into the room over. She placed the chocolates on her glass coffee table and relaxed on the couch with her legs outstretched but her torso upright. She got comfortable and began to read a magazine. A few minutes later, Casey walked in. He eyed the way she was laying and placed the beers on the table next to the chocolates. He crawled onto the couch so that he was on top of her and pressed his lips to hers.

* * *

Chris was sitting on the bleachers at gym the next day, biting her lip and staring off into the distance. Donna watched her with concern for a few seconds before asking, "Hey, Chris— what's up?"

"Huh?" she asked, startled by Donna's voice bringer her back to reality. She smiled a bit when she recognized the question. "Oh. Well, uh, not much. I'm just… really happy, I guess," she decided with a large grin.

"What's going on?" Donna asked, smiling. Chris rarely ever seemed to be this happy.

"Well… promise you won't tell?"

"Of course!"

"Alright. I, uh… I met a guy." Chris sighed dreamily at the memory of Casey.

"Wait— what? You _met a guy?_ I thought you were kind of, y'know… with Hyde," Donna said.

Chris frowned a bit, remembering her curly-haired rebel for the first time since meeting Casey. "Well, it's just… he's so obviously not into me."

Donna's eyebrows shot up— Hyde? Not into Chris? That was like saying that Eric wasn't into Star Wars. She almost laughed at the idea of her little space nerd of a boyfriend _not _constantly playing with action figures. Instead of pointing out the obvious flaw in Chris's logic, she told her honestly, "Well, if he makes you this happy… then I'm glad for you."

"Thanks!" Chris looked over at where Pam Macy was motioning for her to come over and said, "I'll see you in the Basement, Donna. See you!"

"Yeah. Bye," Donna agreed with a slight frown.

* * *

"So," Hyde said conversationally as he slid his way into his seat next to Chris in science class.

"So," she agreed.

"I heard something about you."

She put down her pencil and looked at him with raised eyebrows. She ignored the anticipatory butterflies in her stomach and pretended that there was no pang in her heart when she caught his eye. "Care to share?"

"Someone told me you were seeing someone?"

Chris's heart sank. She'd known that this moment would have to come, but she didn't know when. And she definitely didn't expect it to be so soon. She had nothing prepared. "Um… well… Kind of. I guess."

"You guess?"

"Well… yeah. I mean, we only met yesterday but he's so perfect and— yeah." She shut up when she realized that it was Hyde she was talking to.

"So you're seeing each other again?"

"Yeah," she responded, deciding to keep it simple this time. _Less of a chance to make myself sound like some ignorant little bitch, _she thought to herself with a slight scowl.

"Cool," he said calmly.

"…Cool?" she repeated dubiously.

"Cool," he confirmed.

* * *

Chris was biting her lip nervously as she knocked on Casey's door on Thanksgiving afternoon. She straightened out her shirt and shifted from foot to foot anxiously as she waited for him to come to the door.

She watched the doorknob turn and sure enough, Casey opened the door and kissed her. "Hey babe."

"Hey," she managed to get out. _You need to chill the hell out, _she mentally scolded.

"Calm down," he advised her and he gestured to the house.

She stepped inside and looked around curiously. "Sorry," she managed.

"Casey! Is that your girlfriend?" a voice called from upstairs.

"Go to hell!" Casey yelled up to the voice before warning Chris, "My brothers are all morons. And perverts. So, uh, be careful. And my sister… don't look at her. You'll probably go blind."

"What do you mean?"

"She's—"

"CASEY!" the voice shouted down again. "WHO WAS AT THE DOOR?"

"SHUT UP!" Casey yelled back before adding, "My littlest brother is the most annoying. Be prepared; you'll want to kill him by the end of the night." He heard the thumping of feet, scowled, and added, "Feel free to do so."

Chris grinned. "I'll keep that in mind."

Casey looked at her for a moment before kissing her. She kissed him back hesitantly, and ended it quickly. He pulled her head back in immediately, and she fought it for a few seconds before she decided to just give in. He leaned her back against the front door and pressed his lips roughly to hers. After a few seconds, she forgot that she was in his living room where anybody could just walk in on them. It was just her and her boyfriend.

"CASEY!" the upstairs voice yelled again. There were pounding footsteps on the stairs, but they stopped halfway down. "WHAT. THE HELL."

Chris pulled away from Casey's embrace and stared, dumbfounded, at the figure on the stairs. When she was over the initial shock she exclaimed, "_Kelso?"_

* * *

Kelso looked across the dinner table at Chris as he begrudgingly took a bite of the chicken Chris had helped prepare. He glared between her and Casey and ignored the fact that it was the most amazing food he'd ever taken. "It's dry," he lied through his teeth.

"Mine isn't," Chris said as she slowly analyzed her bite. "Maybe it's just your piece. Do you want to switch plates?"

"No," he grumbled as he stabbed another forkful and shoved it in his mouth.

"I told you he was annoying," Casey informed her.

"He's really not," Chris corrected him. "I like him."

Kelso looked down and muttered, "I like your chicken" before bursting out into one of his big grins.

Mr. Kelso cleared his throat and asked, "So, Christina. How old are you, again?"

"Seventeen," she answered.

"What a coincidence! Michael is turning seventeen soon," Mrs. Kelso added. "Right, Michael?"

"Umff," he said through his full mouth.

"He's in my history class," Chris added.

"You're friends with him?" Casey's sister said dubiously.

"Yeah— we're constantly hanging out in Eric's basement," Chris admitted.

"I wonder why we haven't heard of you," Mrs. Kelso mused.

"Oh, we have," Casey taunted, sending an evil grin over to Kelso. "Remember when you said—"

"Christina!" Kelso's oldest brother cut in, saving Kelso from an undoubtedly incriminating story. "How are you liking Wisconsin so far?"

"Well, I miss the beach and the sun and all," she decided. "But honestly, not much else. The people are so much nicer, and there are so many less druggies." She shot an '_as if!' _look at Kelso without anybody noticing. He shot back his typical smile that always sent a laugh through her.

"What does your dad do?" Mr. Kelso asked.

"He, uh, owns a brewery back in California."

"Oh? What are you doing her in Point Place, then?" Mrs. Kelso asked quizzically. "What with the distance between here and California, I would imagine it would make business difficult."

"My mom moved us out here to get away from the more negative aspects of our lives… There were too many bad influences surrounding us, and we had to get away from it all. My dad comes home and visits sometimes, though," Chris added. She couldn't help but smile a bit when everybody believed her.

* * *

Kelso stormed into the basement on the day after Thanksgiving. "GUYS. I'm pissed!"

Jackie looked up at Kelso's solemn face and said sarcastically, "Aww, what's wrong? Did you ruin you perfect D-plus average?"

Kelso stared at her dubiously before saying, "It's a _C-minus, _Jackie! God!"

Eric rolled his eyes and looked at his friend. "Alright, what's going on," he asked patiently.

"Alright. Okay. You know how Chris has a boyfriend or whatever?"

"Are we seriously talking about this loser again?" Hyde asked.

"Shut up," Jackie demanded of Hyde. If this was going to concern Chris, she needed to hear it— there just might be some juicy details for her to spread.

"Her _boyfriend _is _Casey,_" Kelso announced dramatically. He looked around at everyone's faces, analyzing their reactions.

Finally, Donna broke the silence. _"Niiice!"_

"No, Donna! That is _not _nice!" he exclaimed. "He rejected me and Hyde for ym _brother!_"

"I did _not _get rejected," Hyde corrected him. "I don't even like her."

"She burned you, my curly-haired friend," Fez informed Hyde. "She burned you bad."

"Hey, man— there's a difference between liking someone and thinking they're hot," Hyde argued.

"Either way, she didn't want you," Jackie said. "She didn't want you, so she rejected you and left you cold and alone with nothing to remember her by but a burn. BURN, Hyde! BURN! Hah!" She smiled, very pleased with herself.

Kelso laughed, and when he caught Hyde's vicious stare he defended himself, "It was a good burn."

"I'm just worried, man. Is your arm okay?"

"What? Why wouldn't my arm—"

Hyde pulled his fist back and punched Kelso.

Donna sighed and looked at her boyfriend. "You'd think he'd see those coming by now…"

* * *

Chris stared at the ground, glad that Hyde was walking behind her so that he couldn't see her pained expression as she fought to control herself. "I don't know what you mean."

He watched her start to waver on the curb before sticking her arms out and regaining her balance. "Well, If you don't want to talk about Domino—"

"Domino?" she asked quizzically.

"That's what I call your mom's boyfriend… or client. Whatever the hell he is."

"Domino," she repeated, testing out the name. She nodded appreciatively at his selection. "Huh. I like it."

"Well, anyway. If you don't want to talk about Domino, let's discuss Kelso, shall we?"

"What about him?" she asked surprisedly.

"Kelso told us that you're dating his brother Casey?"

"…You heard about that?"

"Everyone has. I mean, how could you date _Casey? _I mean, props for burning Kelso, but—"

"I did _not _burn Kelso!" she exclaimed indigenously.

"You rejected him for his _brother. _I don't know if they teach you this in California, but here in Wisconsin, that's considered a _burn._"

"Okay, well, _technically, _I didn't reject him for his brother. I rejected him, and _then _I started dating Casey. Besides, I didn't even know they were related."

"They have the same last name!" He realized what her statement meant and stopped dead in his tracks. He stared after her incredulously.

When she realized that Hyde was no longer following her, she turned around. "What?"

"How do you date a guy for almost three months and _not _know his last name?"

"I don't know! He was just so sweet and I guess I just didn't think about it."

"Casey? _Sweet? _That's a new one," Hyde mumbled sarcastically as they began walking again.

"What are you talking about?"

"Casey Kelso is, without a doubt, one of the least _'sweet'_ guys inhabiting the earth."

"Well, he's always been sweet to _me," _she informed him. She caught sight of her house and made a left turn onto her street.

"That's because he's _using _you."

She rolled her eyes. "That's cute, Hyde. Real cute. But hell; I'll play along. What, exactly, is my boyfriend using me for?"

"Drugs, alcohol, sex— it's what everyone wants, and the only reason why _anyone _in this town wants to be around you," he said, not realizing (or really caring) how harsh his words were.

She jumped down off of the curb and stood in front of Hyde. She stared at him, studying his face before turning on her heel and crossing the street towards her house. Her steps were now longer light and bouncy; they were now heavy, deliberate stomps.

"What?" he demanded as he followed her.

"You said it yourself! My dad's jobs are the only reason you want to be around me," she exclaimed as she walked up her driveway.

"I did _not _say that."

"Yeah, actually, you kind of did!" she fumed.

"Chris, drugs and alcohol are _not _the only reasons I hang out with you."

She stopped in front of her door, crossed her arms over her chest, and gave him her frostiest glare. "That's right," she recalled with mock-realization. "You want sex, too!" She turned and stormed into her house, slamming the door behind her and screaming to no one: "HE IS SUCH A FREAKING JACKASS!"

"Pumpkin, man?" a voice drifted through from the living room.

"Dad?" She walked through the door and rushed into his arms the moment she saw him. "Daddy!" she exclaimed, ignoring his scratchy beard and scraggly hair.

"Heyy, Pumpkin!" He pulled pack and placed his index finger on her healing black eye. "What happened, man?"

"Nothing," she lied a little too quickly. She knew what would happen if she told anybody, especially her father, about Domino. _Certain death, _she reminded herself with a grim smile.

"And what's this?" he inquired, poking a purple-ish mark on her neck.

"My boyfriend," she admitted.

"Was he the jackass outside?"

"No, that was my friend Hyde."

"Hyde, man?" Her dad frowned and rubbed his beard. "Sounds familiar."

"Maybe his parents are one of your clients or something. I don't know."

"Man… Oh! Hyde, man! With the... with the hair and the face! And… and the shirts!"

She almost smiled. She was used to her stoner dad. "Yeah, Daddy. _That _Hyde."

"He's a good kid, man. He's gonna get me in trouble with my boss though."

"Daddy? You're your own boss."

"Oh! Right, man! I forgot!"

She nodded and changed the subject. "So, uh… how long are you staying?"

"I just came here to feed the dog, man. Where is he?"

"Dad, he ate your entire stash and died, remember?"

"What? Man, weed doesn't kill anybody!"

"It does when you're a dog and you're so high that you jump out through a window and disappear."

"Man… Poor Lucky…"

"Dad? His name wasn't Lucky."

"What? Oh. So is Lucky okay, then?"

"…Yeah, Dad. Lucky's just fine."

"Oh, thank god! You had me scared there, man." He patted her head and informed her, "My stash in in the library. Keep it safe. Don't let Lucky eat it, okay? Bye, man."

She watched him walk out the door and sighed. She knew her dad wasn't exactly bright, but it never failed to annoy her how clueless he was.

* * *

Chris was staring blankly at a magazine while she sat on her couch, trying to pass the time. She was just about to give up when the door swung open. She jumped a bit, but settled when she saw that it was just Casey. "How's Kels— er, Michael doing?" she asked him.

"Fine," he responded blankly, and kissed her.

She quickly returned the kiss and asked, "Is he okay now?"

"Sure, yeah, whatever," he muttered before going in for another kiss.

She let him kiss her but once again broke it off. "Is he talking to you again yet?"

"Nope." He kissed her roughly, trying to drag her into it, but she pulled away again.

"He's your brother. Don't you even care?"

"Nahh," he decided. "He's actually pretty funny, the way he sulks around and thinks people care." He forced his lips upon hers again.

She let him kiss her this time, but she wasn't really paying attention to him or the kiss. Instead, she was processing what he had said about Kelso. What did he mean, he didn't care? When realization dawned on her, she brought her attention back to Casey and pushed herself away from his shirtless body. "Get. Out," she demanded of him.

"What do you mean?" he asked blankly.

"I mean exactly what I said," she snapped. "Get out of my house. Now."

"Why? I thought we were having fun."

"Because you were using me!"

"I was _not _using you for sex," he defended himself.

"No, that's right: you were using me to piss off your brother, and the possibility of doing it was just a bonus, right?"

Casey stared at her dumbfoundedly; he was amazed that she'd picked up on all that.

She saw that he wasn't planning on answering and stormed over to her front door. "Out," she ordered as she swung it open for him. Once he was outside, she added, "_Don't _come back."

She scowled as she slammed the door shut behind him.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Author's Note: Thank everybody so much for all of your great reviews/helpful suggestions! I promise to take all your advice into consideration and to try really hard to be a better author overall. I tried out some of your suggestions here, so tell me what you think?(: But anyways, regarding this chapter: More drama, another new love interest for Chris— when doesn't she have one? Haha—, and a few secrets that are gonna get out. Enjoy!(: ~Warning: Someone drops an f-bomb!:D**_

_****Also: I'm not sure how well I portrayed Red and Fez, so I would really appreciate some feedback on that. I don't feel that I really captured the essence of their characters, so let me know what you think?(:**_

Fez walked up to Chris about a week later, being the first person to approach her about her breakup with Casey. Neither she nor the elder Kelso had let anything slip until the day before when Casey had told Kelso all about the break-up. Kelso had immediately run to the basement to tell everybody, but Chris had been there so he'd had to hold it in. The second she left the room, he told everybody the full story as quickly as he could. Literally half a minute after he was done, Chris waltzed in and everybody acted like they didn't know a thing.

Fez approached her at her locker as soon as he saw her, assuming that the only way she would ever do him would be on the rebound. This was his chance. "Hello."

"Hey, Fez." She addressed him but didn't turn around. "What's up?"

"I am very sorry about you and Casey," he said promptly.

She froze for a second before regaining her control and asking tightly, "You, uh… you heard about that?"

"Yes, the whole story." He paused before adding meaningfully, "_All _of it."

"Casey told you the _whole _story?" She considered that for a moment before deciding, "I'm surprised. That's awfully big of him."

"You know what else is— er, I mean… Yes. Very, ah… very big of him."

"I thought he'd be too insecure about the whole ordeal."

"Well, he did you and dumped you. There's really no shame in that," Fez commented.

Chris turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "_What _did you just say happened?"

"Casey told Kelso—"

Chris slammed her locker shut angrily. "GOD! What _is it _that makes the Kelsos lie about having sex with me? They're all such DILLHOLES!"

"Well, you_ are_ quite attractive—"

Chris looked at the foreign kid strangely, having just realized that he was still there. "Y'know what, Fez?"

"Aye," he squeaked nervously.

"Pick me up at eight tonight and I will _give you _something to talk about!" She stormed off angrily, and Fez stared at the perfect picture of rage's ass until she was out of sight.

* * *

The gang—minus Chris, who was nowhere to be found— was sitting at the lunch table. The cheerleaders were walking by them, but for once, Kelso wasn't paying attention. He had bigger problems to deal with than the fact that he wasn't currently in any of their pants. Instead of staring at their asses like the man-whore he was, Kelso looked at Fez like he was insane. "Come _on. _There's no _way._"

"In case you have not noticed, I happen to be a natural ladies' man," Fez replied smugly.

"Okay, Fez, I _highly _doubt that she said anything of the sort," Eric informed him.

"You do have a habit of twisting things in your head," Donna added.

"Like that time you 'had a date' with Chris's mom, but it just turned out that you bumped into her at the supermarket and you majorly freaked her out, so she left and said she would see you later," Hyde reminded him.

"No! This time I really mean it," Fez insisted. "After tonight, I will no longer be a virgin."

"Alright, Fez," Kelso said skeptically. "What did Chris say? I mean exactly. Word for word."

Fez cleared his throat and said in a horrible falsetto, "Why do men lie about having sex with me? Pick me up at eight and I will give you something to talk about." He sat back, pleased with his work.

"You're _in, _man!" Kelso exclaimed appreciatively, and gave Fez a high five.

"Good job," Eric complimented.

"I can't believe Chris is _that _desperate for a rebound," Donna voiced.

The only one who remained without comment was Hyde.

* * *

Hyde saw Chris in the hallway halfway through the period after lunch and regarded her with suspicion. "Hey."

She turned to face him, but let out a sigh of relief when it was just him. "Oh. Hey."

"You skipping class?" he asked as he leaned back against the lockers.

"As are you," she reminded him as she planted her feet and studied his face, bracing herself for some kind of verbal warfare.

"And your point is…?"

"There really is none," she admitted. Realizing that he wasn't there for a fight, she looked around and said, "Do you wanna, like… leave?"

"Leave school?" he confirmed.

"Yeah. We can, uh, hang out at my place if you'd like. Less likely to get caught there than we would hanging around in the hallways. Plus, y'know— free beer."

He stared at her blankly, having expected her to snap at him. After all, the last time they'd talked hadn't exactly been pleasant. However, being Hyde, he wasn't big into apologies or touchy-feely conversations, so he let it go and simply responded, "Sure. Why the hell not."

She turned on her heel so that Hyde would not see her profuse grin and led the way out of school and towards her house. They made it to her driveway before Chris recalled the last time she had come home early, and what her friends had almost witnessed. She stopped in her tracks, and Hyde almost bumped into her. He put a careful hand on the small of her back and prompted, "You alright?"

She bit her lip but forced a calm expression so that she could face Hyde and order, "You wait here, alright? I have to go… uh… um…"

"Check on things inside?" he guessed, knowing her too well to buy any of the bullshit excuses she knew he was going to try and pull.

"I don't want you to go in if Domino's there," she decided to admit.

He nodded, ignoring how his heart jumped when she used his given nickname for the man who beat her. What the hell was his problem? He put on his sunglasses to cover his eyes and—hopefully— any proof that the mention of the child-beating, prostitute-dating asshole had actually made him happy. God, he was so messed up. "I'll wait."

He watched her walk away, and studied the way she approached the door. She slowed when she got there, stopping and taking a deep breath before turning the handle. He felt rage well up inside him when he caught sight of her face as she slipped inside— she was terrified. He shook his head and scowled. He was _Hyde. _Why did he care if some chick was scared? He didn't care about people, especially not their feelings. Chris was doing a major toll on him… He should probably just leave. Right?

Just as he was about to turn around, Chris appeared at the door and called, "Hyde! You can come in!"

He hesitated a moment before his desires overran his better judgment and he made his way over to her. He walked through the door into the kitchen and commented, "Huh."

She handed him a beer can and commenced in drinking hers. "So why're you skipping?"

"School is for dillholes like Forman." He regarded her and asked, "How about you, Little Miss Perfect?"

"I didn't want to deal with any of the bullshit." She chugged some more of her beer before adding, "And I'm not perfect."

"Good luck with that one," he decided. He heard a door shut upstairs and asked, "I thought you said nobody was home?"

"That's my mom. Let me apologize in advance for any STDs she may give you."

"Wouldn't we have to do it for me to get an STD?"

"Exactly my point."

"Why would I do your mom?"

"You'll see when she comes downstairs."

"I'm not interested in banging your mother, Chris."

"She can be persuasive," Chris responded evenly before finishing off her beer and grabbing a second. She grinned at Hyde and his half-full can and said sarcastically, "Slow down there!"

"I'm not looking to get completely wasted within the next five minutes," he informed her sarcastically.

"Well, whatever floats your boat." She sat and drank her beer for a while before she decided to inquire, "How's it going with you, anyway? We haven't spoken since…"

"Fine," he responded curtly. He really didn't want to get into any kind of discussion relating to feelings, especially while had had beer in his hand and would probably wind up saying something he regretted. Something like _I lo—_

"How's it going with you?" he said immediately, refusing to finish the thought even in his mind.

"Eh," she decided. If he was going to hold back, so would she. Two could play at that game.

Just then, Chris's mom walked in. "Helloo!"

Chris rolled her eyes at her mother's attire— nothing. She glanced over at Hyde and almost grinned when she saw that he wasn't staring at her mother's perfect figure or large, exposed boobs. His eyes remained trained on Chris's face. "Hi," Chris decided.

"Who's your little friend?" Shelly purred, taking a step closer to Hyde.

"That's Hyde," Chris answered frostily. She hated when this happened. It _always _happened. Her mom couldn't _not _screw an attractive guy if she laid eyes on him.

"Hey," Hyde said casually. He still didn't even look over at Chris's mom, despite the fact that she was continually moving closer to his body. What he focused on was the fact that Chris was already done with her second beer and moving on to a third, and the fact that she suddenly seemed… tired. Like this was an ongoing situation, not one that had just started.

"Is he legal?" Shelly asked her daughter.

"No," Chris responded, her voice taking on a new, angry tone. "He's sixteen, and he's _mine, _Mom, not yours. So I would really appreciate it if you backed the hell off."

Hyde held back his grin, along with all of his other emotions that bubbled to the surface at that word: _mine. _She'd called him hers. He was once again glad that he'd barely finished his first beer; he wouldn't have been able to hold back his goofy, loverboy, un-Hyde grin if he was drowning in alcohol.

Hyde was brought back to reality when Chris's mom asked, "You pay well?"

"He's a non-paying client, mom. Complimentary services," Chris sighed, putting it into terms that her mother understood. Shelly didn't understand things like _friendship _or _love— _she only knew sex and money.

"Is he one of the boss's kids?" Shelly wondered, suddenly intrigued. She rarely had free clients—except for Domino. He was the exception, and even then only because— She ignored that. _No feelings, remember? Part of the job._

"No. He's, uh… he… he's a long-term. Like yours."

Shelly frowned a bit. "Like mine as in he'll kill you if you don't screw him? Or like mine as in he shows up everywhere but refuses to pay?"

Chris almost smiled as she answered, "The second one. So, uh, we're gonna take the beer and go to my room. Okay?"

Shelly nodded. "Don't get pregnant, okay? We can't afford another abortion." She paused before adding, "Well, technically, I guess we can. But you'll be having this one."

Chris rolled her eyes. "Mom, you're the one that got knocked up, remember?"

"Whatever. Either way, you get pregnant, you're a mom."

"Alright." She grabbed a six-pack of beer out of the fridge and handed it to Hyde before asking, "Mom, do we have a keg?"

"No shit," were Shelly's parting words to her daughter before she left for work.

Chris grabbed Hyde's arm and led him towards her room. Before going in, she opened the closet doors next to hers, pulled out a keg, and carried it into her room. She placed it next to her bed before laying down casually. Hyde sat next to her and opened up his second beer.

"Sorry about that," Chris decided.

"For what?"

"My mom. She's uh…"

"Not quite as persuasive as you made her sound," Hyde offered.

"Most people see her boobs and are won over," Chris admitted.

"I guess I'm not as easily swayed," he decided, opting out of telling her that he liked _her_ rack better. The self-control was another reason he was glad to be sober— not that it mattered what he said. Chris was already buzzed.

"I noticed," she grumbled with a pout. He guessed that there was more reason behind that than he picked up, but also knew better than to try to have a conversation with a drunk. After a few seconds, she was all smiles again, anyway.

He let her get away with another can before he gave up on the whole 'staying sober' idea. They took turn pumping the tap into each other's mouths, but on occasion one of them would say something that their drunken minds considered funny and spit their mouthful out, getting beer all over the bed and each other. After a while, Chris looked down at her shirt and giggled. "I'm _wet_."

"What a coincidence! Me too," Hyde said, after which they both burst out laughing.

Chris fought to control her giggles as she managed, "I'm gonna change my shirt. I think… I think that's a good idea. Right? Right."

"I think… that I like beer," he responded as he pumped some more into his mouth. He watched her as she took off her shirt and walked to her closet. She took at two shirts and held one in each hand. She turned to Hyde and asked, "Which one?"

"I like you in just a bra," he informed her with a slur, far too intoxicated to even scold himself for showing a sign that he liked her in any way.

"But I have to look good for tonight," she protested with a pout.

"Why?"

"I have a date with… oh, shit. What's the foreign kid's name?"

"Don't do it," he persuaded her.

"Do what?" she asked, walking over to him. She was within a step of the bed when she stumbled. He caught her arm and lifted her back up.

"Fez," he answered stonily. Huh; that felt weird. He wasn't used to being grave when drunk or stoned. Wait, why wasn't he stoned? Now he wanted weed. He pondered whether to ask Chris to tap into her dad's stash when his train of thought was cut off by a girl's voice.

"That's none of your business," the girl said. He looked up and suddenly didn't recognize her—but somehow, he knew he needed to stop her from doing something. What, he couldn't recall– but it was important. Wasn't it?

"Trust me," a voice that didn't sound like his informed the girl. "You don't want this." Had he just said that? He thought he might've. He wasn't even sure anymore; his head was pounding too hard to enable thought.

"_Or _you're just jealous," the girl wavered. He looked at her and frowned; his vision was fuzzy, and he couldn't make out her face, but he had a feeling she was pretty.

He stood and took a step towards her. "You're just upset about Casey, and—"

"I guess you got your way with that one, huh?" she snarled viciously, cutting off his sentence and leaving him to ponder. Who the _hell _was Casey? The name rang a bell… or, did it? He wasn't even sure. He'd probably just come up with it out of nowhere. The guy most likely didn't exist. Then again, it didn't seem like anything did at that moment. The room began to spin, and he reached out and grabbed her arm, needing something to keep himself steady. "Don't you _ever _touch me. _EVER," _she demanded as she shrugged his hand off of her.

He let out a small laugh before collapsing on the ground.

* * *

Hyde woke up on his cot in the Forman's basement a few hours later and groaned when he tried to lift his head. What the _hell _had happened? Why did his head hurt? Hell; why did his _everything _hurt? He forced himself to a sitting position and ran his hands through his fro. Glancing around the room, he tried to recall what had led him here. He began to retrace his steps, but couldn't remember anything before waking up for school that day.

_Coffee, _he told himself. _Coffee and painkillers._

He made his way out of his room and saw the gang sitting around the TV, watching some mindless show. He didn't see Chris or Fez, but didn't register it and didn't care.

"Look who's awake!" Forman announced with a grin.

"Get bent," Hyde grumbled in response as he made his way up the stairs. He reached the kitchen and began to make himself coffee when Kitty flounced in. "I was wondering when you'd get your keister out of bed," she exclaimed before letting out one of her signature Kitty laughs.

"Hi, Mrs. Forman," he responded as best he could, knowing that whatever had gotten him into this condition was probably not something he should let her know about.

"Goodness, I almost thought you had died from alcohol poisoning!" She let out another laugh.

"Mrs. Forman, _what _are you _talking _about?" he asked dubiously. He hadn't been drinking… had he? He couldn't even remember. It would explain his killer headache, though.

"Oh, dear, you don't even remember, do you? Chris told me the whole story. You were at her house and you were drinking—_very bad decision on your part, _Steven! You know better than that. You passed out and she brought you all the way here; wasn't that nice of her? She seems like a nice girl."

He blinked in confusion as his memory began to come back to him. "Right… I think I was… I was trying to convince her not to go out with Fez," he said slowly. "And… and she yelled at me. Something about Casey? I think it was something bad. She accused me of breaking them up or something, I think. And then… I don't know."

"Then she stumbled her drunken way over here to drop you off safely," Kitty finished. "You were half-awake. She was going to carry you but she didn't think you would like that."

He stared at her blankly. "Oh," he offered weakly as he finished making his coffee and began to drink it. He looked around at the kitchen before focusing in on Kitty again and beginning, "Mrs. Forman…"

"Yes, dear?"

He smiled a small smile and inquired, "Do you happen to have any painkillers?"

* * *

About a week after their first date, Chris and Fez were in the basement. Normally they would be watching television with the gang, but they were alone. Donna and Jackie had gone to the mall, and the rest of the guys were all at the Hub. The pair were just beginning to take advantage of their alone time on the couch when Red walked in. The second they heard footsteps on the stairs, they separated and went to opposite sides of the couch and focused their attention on the TV that had been droning in the background while they were making out.

"Aw, jeez, _another _one?" he exclaimed when he saw Chris in the basement. "The amount of kids that used to flock around here was bad enough!"

Chris turned to Red and smiled warmly. "Hi! You must be Mr. Forman. I'm Chris, Eric's friend."

Red took in her appearance and responded incredulously, "You're _Eric's _friend?"

"Yeah— I just moved here from California. Hyde introduced me to everybody."

"You're friends with _Steven?_"

Chris considered their recent relations and frowned a bit. "Well, kind of."

"You aren't another hophead, are you?" he demanded. "Because I already kicked their asses for that crap, and I don't want to have to do it again because some girl—"

"Of course not! I would never do anything that stupid. And I assure you, if any one of my friends even _thought _of lighting up… you'd be the first to know."

"…Huh," he said thoughtfully, having decided that she was telling the truth. "It's good to know at least one of Eric's friends isn't a complete dumbass."

Chris smiled and said, "I'm glad that Eric has such a reasonable parent to steer him down the right path. Thanks for keeping them straight, Mr. Forman."

Red nodded appreciatively and told Fez, "Don't mess this up. If she leaves your little group I will personally shove my foot up all of your dumb little asses."

"Y-yes, Mr. Red," Fez stammered as he watched Mr. Forman walked back up the stairs.

Chris rolled her eyes and leaped on Fez the second Red was gone, grinning as she pressed her lips to his.

* * *

Eric sat down at his kitchen table for breakfast on Saturday and stayed there, dazedly rubbing his eyes for about fifteen seconds before looking up. Why was there no food in front of him yet? By now, his mother usually had a whimsically-plated meal in front of him. In fact, she wasn't there— it was just him and his father. He gulped; was he in trouble? He tried to think of anything he had done recently to possibly piss Red off. He almost laughed when his first thought was '_existing'_ .

Red was there to give Eric a talking to, alright— but he wasn't about to put his foot up his son's ass for once. "Eric."

"Dad," he responded slowly, not knowing what to expect.

"I walked into the basement the other day."

Had his father found out about the circle (again)? He braced himself for yelling but, remembering his slip-up last time that had cost him life as he knew it, decided to prompt him, "And…?"

"The foreign kid was there with a girl."

"And…?"

"And I want to know why you haven't introduced your mother and me to the new girl, Christina. Don't you think that we deserve to know who's in our basement? Especially if it's one of the rare people who aren't complete dumbasses."

"Umm... I'm glad you like her?"

"She can teach you and Hyde a lot about responsibility," he continued.

"Yeah, okay," Eric said skeptically. "Exactly how long did you talk to her?"

"You can tell a lot about someone within the first few minutes." He lowered his newspaper and looked at his son before adding, "Take yourself, for example. Just by looking at you I can tell that you're a Star Wars-loving un-athletic idiot who's just asking for a kick in the ass."

"And just looking at _you _I can tell that you're a—" He caught his father's warning look and instead of his former response he managed to stammer out a weak, "—very good father who doesn't take any crap and is great at everything, especially putting communists in their place."

"Damn straight," Red agreed. He went back to his newspaper for a few minutes before looking up and adding, "Invite the new girl to the barbeque we're having next weekend."

"Alright. I'll ask her the next time I—"

"You'll call her _now, _before you forget like a dumbass."

"Or I'll call her now," Eric consented begrudgingly as he walked over to the phone. He dialed in the number he had seen Hyde call so many times and waited for someone to pick up.

"Hello?" a gruff voice demanded after the third ring.

"Um, hey, this is Eric. Eric Forman, I mean. Is this Mr. Steele?"

Domino grinned maliciously as he informed him, "Yes, yes I am."

"Well then, uh… My family was wondering if Chris— I mean, uh, your family, would like to come to a barbeque next Saturday. Everyone's going to be there…"

Domino almost laughed at loud at this amazing opportunity. He hadn't expected to stumble upon such a large pot of gold today! He had been wondering how to make Chris miserable— he didn't feel like he'd been doing his job well enough lately. She wasn't at the house often enough for him to abuse her emotionally as much as he'd like. But with this… He couldn't believe his luck. This was probably the best thing that had happened that week.

"We'd love to," he decided, the sadistic joy dripping from his voice.

* * *

Fez was walking Chris to her locker when he said, "Did you hear about the Formans' barbeque on Saturday?"

"Um… no, I don't think Eric or Hyde mentioned it," she decided after a moment of thought. "Why?"

"I was wondering if you would care to come as my date."

"No." She looked up from the books on the shelf of her locker at his shocked, wounded face and laughed before kissing his slack mouth. "Just kidding, Fez. I'd love to go with you."

"You scared me, whore!" he exclaimed before he kissed her. "Let me carry your books?"

She let out another chuckle before handing him her science books and leading him over to the science classroom. He followed her, enjoying the feel of her hand clasped lightly around his forearm until they made it to the classroom. "Here we are!"

"Thanks, Fez," she said with a sincere grin. She planted a final kiss on his lips before taking her books back and sliding into her seat next to Hyde, prepared for whatever argument they were about to have. She sighed and ignored all thoughts but those of her sort-of boyfriend as she prepared to ignore the fact that she was about to lose a little more of her best friend.

* * *

Chris had her arm linked with Fez's and a grin on her face as she walked onto the Forman's driveway, carrying a large container of cupcakes in her free hand. She caught sight of Red and exclaimed, "Hi, Mr. Forman!"

"Hello, Chris," he responded as he turned around. "You brought cupcakes?"

"And a keg from my daddy's brewery," she chirped.

"You brought a keg?" Red exclaimed in shock. That was the best thing he'd heard all day! "Where—"

Kelso slowly began to appear— but he was heard long before he was seen. He was grunting and groaning, struggling to pull the bucket of ice with the keg inside that he'd told Chris he could handle carrying. _Big mistake._

Chris laughed and handed Fez the cupcakes before making her way over to Kelso. She patted his back, and he jumped up and brushed off his shoulders. "I almost had that," he informed her breathlessly as he straightened up.

"I'm sure you did, Kelso," she assured him before effortlessly picking up the bucket and carrying it over to Red. "Where do you want it?" she asked him.

"Right here is fine," he decided weakly.

"I lightened it up for her," Kelso informed them. He caught Fez's skeptical look and exclaimed defiantly, "I _did!"_

"…Of course you did, Kelso," Chris comforted him. "It was much heavier while it was at my house."

He beamed with pride before his wild grin faded and he double-checked, "I can… I can have a cupcake now, right?"

She laughed. "Of course!" She handed him one, and he flounced away happily.

Once Kelso was gone, Red turned to the foreigner. "She's nice, she's strong, she's polite, her dad owns a brewery, and she somehow manages to put up with all of you dumbasses." Red gave Fez an accusing look and demanded, "How much did you pay her?"

"She is here for her _own _enjoyment," Fez responded smugly.

"…How much did he pay you? I'll pay you double to leave him," Red said, directing his attention to Chris.

"Actually, he's not lying. Eric's with Donna, Hyde and I aren't exactly talking, and I don't really know any other guys that are even _half-_decent." Chris looked at Fez and added, "Plus, we've been kinda-dating for… what, a week now? Two weeks?"

"Twelve days," Fez corrected her.

"What about Kelso?" Red persuaded. "Even _that _dope-head is better than the foreign kid."

"Yeah, but Kelso's… y'know… _Kelso. _He's insanely sweet, but he's also… how do I put this…"

"Dumb as a rock?" Red suggested.

"A whore," Fez finished simultaneously.

"Yeah," Chris agreed.

Kitty approached the three and exclaimed, "Why, _hello! _Chris, where are your parents, dear?"

The color drained from Chris's face as she stammered, "My… my parents?"

"Aren't they coming?" Red asked.

"Um, I don't think—"

"Christina! Honey," Domino said cheerfully as he walked over with Shelly. He wrapped his arm around Chris's shoulders (a little too tightly) and grinned at the Formans. "Hi, I'm—" he caught himself before making up a random fake name and remembered to lie, "Mr. Steele."

She stood there frozen in place. Her blood had gone cold the moment she heard his melodic voice, capable of convincing anyone of anything. Why the hell was he doing here? She fought to control her heart rate; surely, he would feel it and slow it down _for _her. While she had a little panic attack, Fez stepped closer to Shelly. "Hello Mrs. Steele, you look lovely today," he purred.

"Sorry we're late, Red. We got caught up in our taxes," Shelly lied expertly.

Domino turned his attention to Chris's horrorstruck face and mock-inquired, "Aww, what's wrong my little buttercup?"

She finally lost her composure and exclaimed, "Let go of me!" before rushing off into the Forman's house.

"I'll go check on her," Domino said apologetically before following Chris. He caught the bathroom door right before she was slamming it shut. "What the _fuck _do you think you're doing running from me?" he demanded.

"I- I'm sorry-" she began to whimper.

"Too late for that, bitch," he growled, and slammed the door behind them before advancing.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Author's Note: Yeah, I realize I left you on a little bit of a cliff-hanger there. I did it on purpose, being the evil little girl that I am(: Most of this was actually going to be in the last chapter, but I decided that leaving people hanging and the possibility of more reviews/readers was worth changing the format a tad. But anyways, keep giving me suggestions, and keep reviewing, because I really do appreciate all of it! (: Thank you so much to everyone who's sticking with the story and I promise to try to make your time worthwhile(:**_

Chris opened her eyes wearily and began to lift her head. She let it fall back and re-shut her eyes. She didn't know where she was, and she didn't care. All she knew was that everything hurt, and she just wanted to go back to the sweet, painless unconsciousness that she'd oh-so-happily occupied just a few moments ago…

She sighed after about a minute or two because the whole falling-asleep thing wasn't working out in her favor. She placed her palm against the ground, steadying herself for the undoubtedly painful uplifting of her body, but frowned when she did so. Whatever she was laying on was hard and cool, with something warm and wet all over it.

Her eyes flashed open, and her face was right next to a porcelain toilet. _What the hell? _She wondered. She unsteadily rose to her knees and glanced around at a blood-spattered scene, but was unable to make anything of it before she vomited the contents of her stomach into the white bowl she'd been oh-so-conveniently laying by. When she was done, she settled back against her ankles and looked around again, feeling nauseous and in an insane amount of pain. Memory came back at her quickly, each moment she remembered falling into place like a jigsaw puzzle; each recollection hitting her almost as hard as they had while she had went through them.

_The people who repress their memories are lucky bastards, _she thought bitterly as she forced herself to her feet. She took of her bloodied shirt, wet it, and used it to clean up the blood in the Formans' bathroom, being extra careful not to miss any spots since it wasn't _her _house and people were actually welcomed in this home. When she was done, she stood in the mirror and looked at her reflection. Her face was a gore- and tear-splattered mess, and her hair was soaked with blood. Her outfit was stained; her body was bruised; her head was throbbing. She stared at how pitiful she was and felt hot tears run down her face, stinging her new injuries.

_You're a mess, Chris, _she told herself pitifully. _A friggen mess. No wonder Hyde didn't want you. Not that you care, right? Right. He's just a stupid pothead. Well… he's kind of hot. But still. Nobody decent would ever even dream of going near you, if they could see what you really looked like behind all your make-up. You're so horrible. You deserve every little thing Domino does to you. Hell; if he'd just hurry up and kill you, it'd probably be doing the world a favor…_

Eric walked in—apparently, Domino hadn't the decency to lock the door behind him—, saw Chris shirtless, and said, "Oh, sorry, I didn't know you were—" After a few seconds, he noticed how beat up she was and exclaimed, "What the _hell _happened to you?"

She stared at him blankly, the lump in her throat refusing to move enough for her to talk. She couldn't lie her way out of _this _one— could she? She wracked her brain for answers before deciding that there was no chance in hell that she would come up with a satisfying answer without giving everything away. Instead of speaking, she just opened her mouth and let out a small whimper before she leaned back against the wall and slid to the floor.

"Chris… what… what's going on?" He stared at her small, shaking body and decided, "I- I'm gonna go get Hyde—"

"No," she rasped, and grabbed his wrist to prevent him from going anywhere. "You can't tell anybody. Please."

"Chris, _what—"_

_"Promise me," _she demanded, her fingers digging into his wrists.

"Yeah, okay, fine! I won't tell!" When she let go of him, he shut and locked the bathroom door. "But—"

"Especially Hyde," she added.

"Why?" When all he received in response was a pleading look from a physically and emotionally broken girl, he nodded and agreed, "Alright, fine. Especially Hyde."

"Promise?"

"I promise," he swore before sticking his hand down to her. She took it gratefully and he pulled her to her feet. She looked at him and asked, "Do you… happen to have an outfit that I could borrow?"

"Yeah, sure."

She stopped him before he walked out and said, "Promise… promise you'll come back?"

Eric almost smiled at her. She was so… _broken. _The fact that she thought he would leave her… well, it said a lot about the assholes she used to know. He nodded again and repeated, "Of course. I'll grab some clothes and come right back."

He made his way up the stairs into his sister's room and frowned at the closet. He began to sift through clothes. Touching things his sister and her various 'friends' had been inside of disgusted him, but he was doing it for Chris, so he could deal with it. The pants were easy enough— all he had to do was grab a pair of jeans–, but the shirt was tougher. The only clothes Laurie had were all too small or too slutty. He thought about that for a moment before laughing. He was picking out clothes for _Chris, _the hottest girl he knew. There were no clothes too slutty or too small for her to wear. He grabbed the first thing he decided she wouldn't hate or smack him for and went back into the bathroom.

Chris had removed all traces of blood from her body and face by the time Eric got back, and the only part of her that was still blood-covered was her hair. She smiled at him when he brought in the clothes and said genuinely, "Thank you _so _much, Eric. You have no idea how much I appreciate this."

He smiled back at her, struggling with the task of keeping his eyes on her face instead of her chest. He handed her the clothes, but she set them aside and looked at him apologetically. "Do you think you could do me one more favor?"

"Sure," he decided, choosing to risk whatever it was. Anything to help her. After seeing her break down like that, he realized that he didn't want to have to see her like that ever again. And not just a bloody mess; he hated the idea that she was upset. He'd always thought that she was one of those perky girls that got whatever she wanted in life. She'd turned out to be such a great person—a combination of the best parts of each member of the gang— that now that he found out she _didn't _live the perfect life, it thoroughly pissed him off. He wanted her to have everything she wanted; he wanted her to be forever happy.

It didn't hurt that she was hot. And standing in front of him in her underwear.

"Are you any good at washing hair?"

"_Please," _he exclaimed, running his hand through his own and failing an attempt to flip it the way girls did. "You can't get a luscious shine like this with just any old technique."

"Would you mind maybe washing mine in the sink for me? I'd do it myself, but I'd be bound to miss some spots."

He was about to decline her proposal—he really didn't want to touch her bloodied scalp— when she began to bend backwards so that her head was in the sink. _Alright, maybe the view will be worth it, _he decided as he took a step closer to her. He took the shampoo she'd brought from the shower and simultaneously lathered her hair with it and stared at the reflection of her boobs in the mirror.

* * *

"Where's Fez off to?" Donna asked Chris when she and Eric finally made their way back into the basement.

Jackie noticed Chris's complete change in appearance and sneered, "What— your own clothes not slutty enough for you?"

"Leave her alone, Jackie," Eric defended. Chris looked at him gratefully, knowing that in the state she was in, she would've just let Jackie walk all over her.

"Why are you defending her?" Jackie demanded. "Is there some kind of weird, loser loving going on here?"

"Of course not!" Chris exclaimed. She may be a lot of things—stupid, worthless, weak— but she was _not _the kind of girl to help someone cheat on their girlfriend.

"Eric, you _were _in the bathroom for an awfully long time," Donna said awkwardly, playing with a bracelet she was wearing.

"How far did you get?" Kelso demanded eagerly.

"We aren't into each other, Kelso," Eric responded evenly.

"Then what were you two doing away for so long?" Jackie pressed. If this was even half as bad as she expected it to be… almost half a year's wait was worth it. Chris may have had a longer run than Jackie would like, but doing it with a nerd like Forman even though she was friends with Donna… that was _bound _to knock her down to where she belonged: below Jackie.

"Nothing!" Chris cried desperately, and then cursed herself for not having more self-control. _Stupid, stupid, stupid! What the hell are you doing?_

"Nothing," Eric agreed begrudgingly when he caught the look in Chris's eyes.

Spotting a purple mark on Chris's neck—really from the hands of Domino, but looking like a hickey—, Kelso exclaimed, "You guys _totally _got it on!"

"Kelso, we did _not!" _Chris shouted at him angrily.

"You're over Fez _already, _Chris?" Hyde taunted with a slightly bitter undertone. Why the hell was she going around with every guy _except _him, when it was so obvious that they had— He cut off that line of thought immediately. _You don't care, _he reminded himself before adding, "Some people might define that as being a whore."

"Chris has a hickey! Chris has a hickey!" Kelso sing-songed.

"Yes, because my mouth totally looks like a fist," Eric grumbled under his breath, then remembered his promise to Chris and clamped his stupid mouth shut before it got him in some major trouble.

Meanwhile, Chris fumed at Hyde. "You know what? I am _so sick of you!" _she burst out. "You are the most _frustrating _guy I have _ever _met! You have _no friggen clue _how to handle people, do you?" When she received no response but a cocked eyebrow, she continued, "I am _not _with Eric! He's dating _Donna, _one of the few people I like around here— an elite group that does _not _include you, Steven!" She hated the way calling him Steven felt, but it was obviously that it had affected him, so she went on to add, "Plus, I was only with Fez to piss you off!"

"And why would you do _that?_" he smirked, thinking he had her.

"Because you like me. You have a pathetic little crush on me; one that you know will _never _be requited. You think that nobody sees it? You think you can hide your little puppydog looks and all of your feelings by wearing your stupid sunglasses? No, you can't. And it's so _obvious _that you're desperately out of your league that I thought it might be fun to rub it in a little; get with your best friend." She glared at him angrily, her words sounding harsh even to herself. She struggled to keep up a fierce look; the urge to run to him and apologize was overpowering. Instead of crumbling to her desires, she added, "Above all, you're a selfish son of a bitch, and I _hate you."_

"I saved your _life!" _he exclaimed. "Yeah, I'm so freaking selfish!"

"Yeah— and that really did _me _a favor!"

"_Chris,_" Eric said sharply purely out of shock, refusing to let Chris even consider thinking like that. "You don't mean that. You _know _you don't mean that. You're just upset about before."

"What happened before?" Hyde asked gravely, losing all of his anger towards her and instead feeling compassion. After all, maybe she was just being extra-bitchy because she was upset. She didn't usually act like this, so he studied her face for signs of upset not caused by him and instead noticed a bunch of almost-hidden bruises and scrapes covering almost all of her skin. He was so concerned that he almost forgot to kick himself for caring. Almost.

"What happened before?" Kelso sing-songed at the same time, expecting to hear an intriguingly sexy story.

"Nothing," Chris grumbled loathingly, ignoring the tears that welled in her eyes. "I'm gonna get a beer."

"Grab one for me," Donna said.

Realizing she was being rude by just barging off on her lonesome, she turned back to the gang and asked, "Anybody want to come?"

"And get slaughtered by Red? Not even Michael is that stupid," Jackie scoffed. "You must to be an idiot to want to take beer right from under his nose— that, or you like to get your ass kicked."

Chris cringed a little at that, and both Hyde and Eric exclaimed, _"Jackie!" _before giving each other suspicious glances.

"I'll just… uh… be right back then," Chris said awkwardly before making her way outside so that she could pump herself a cup of her dad's famous beer.

She was halfway through the act of filling a cup when a pudgy man with a large afro approached her with a not-so-subtle, "Whooaa! Aren't you a little young to be working the tap?"

Chris glanced up at the man she recognized as Donna's dad, examining his face to see how elaborate of a response she would have to plan out. She thought only for a moment before she calculated his perceptibility and responded, "I'm just getting a beer for my mom. She'll get mad when she's drunk, so she'll probably kill me if I'm not there soon—"

"Your mom, huh?" Bob pictured an older version of Chris and liked what he saw— if this girl was ten years older, he would probably go after her. He cursed legality and instead smiled goofily.

"I'll take it to her," a viciously kind voice hissed into her ear. She jumped and almost dropped her beer so she could run like hell, but forced herself to be calm and stuttered, "N-no. It's- uh, it's alright. I'll… I'll bring it to her. Do you know where she went?"

"She's making a date with that foreign kid. The one you've been banging instead of spending your time with _me._"

Chris forced herself to swallow down her fear and tried as hard as she could to ignore how her heart hammered in her ears. He really did know how to discreetly threaten someone, and he was the best in the world at scaring the shit out of her. "I'm not _banging _anybody. I have more self-respect than that. I don't need to sleep with whores _or_ abuse people to gain some." She knew it was a low blow, and definitely regretted her quick response when she saw the often-visible _'I am going to kick your scrawny little ass' _look notched up to about a ten on the scary scale.

"Christina. Steele," he growled menacingly.

She couldn't _not _finish out her performance, so she forced a smile at him and chirped, "Bye, Daddy!" before rushing into the basement. She slammed the door behind her and leaned against it, panting from the anxiety attack she'd been holding back.

"Nobody gets _that _freaked out from just stealing a lousy cup of beer," Jackie grumbled. However, her voice was overridden by Donna exclaimed incredulously, "You actually got it!"

Chris forced herself to calm down a tad before she was able to bring out her good ol' fake smile. "Yeah, I got it. And, uh, Red was walking over when I was walking away. I freaked a bit and rushed down here."

Most of the gang seemed satisfied with her answer, but Hyde and Eric knew better. Hyde was a better friend (or, at least, he _used _to be a better friend) to Chris than any of the rest of the gang, so he knew that Chris's story was a load of bull. If Red had been coming over, she would've made up some reason to get him to let her walk away. She wasn't the fleeing type. Eric, on the other hand, knew almost nothing about Chris—which was more than anyone else in Point Place but Hyde—, but he could tell by the expression on her face that what had happened before had something to do with her panicked state. Chris stared at Hyde for a few seconds— why, she wasn't sure; it was just a natural reflex to turn to him while in trouble. Secretly, she was hoping that Hyde would pick up on her facial cues and realize that something had happened, but all hopes were severed when Hyde finally broke the silence by snapping, "What the hell are you staring at?"

She felt her heart drop into her stomach— he'd been her last hope. For some odd reason, a quick memory flashed through her mind: _"It'll get worse, Christina, just you wait. But maybe I'll let up a bit if you bring that kid who punched me home to me," Domino called over his shoulder casually as he made his way out the bathroom, shutting the door behind him and leaving the half-conscious Chris to bleed out._

She flashed back to the present, watching Hyde was an all-new light. She suddenly dropped all ideas of telling him _anything _from her mind; there was absolutely no chance in hell that she would risk hurting him. She refused to let Domino be rid of him— perfect people only came around every once in a blue moon. The world would probably explodeor something if they lost their one-in-a-million guy.

"I'm staring at _you, _dumbass. Did you know that there's a rat on your head?"

He rolled his eyes behind his shades and snarled back, "Wow. _That's _a new one."

"I stole it from _you,_" she responded automatically, saying the first thing that popped into her head because she was too weary to actually come up with anything even remotely intelligent.

"You are just _so _freakin' cleaver," Hyde awarded her. "Ten bucks says that even Domino could come up with something more creative than the sacks of crap you keep trying to throw my way."

Chris froze instantly at the mention of Domino, and Kelso inquired, "Who's Domino?"

"My… my, uh, dog. My family's had him for forever, and he died last night. I've been really upset about it. That's why I've been acting strange, and why Eric and I were alone before. He saw me crying and had to calm me down."

"You're getting this upset over some stupid _animal?_" Jackie demanded incredulously. What the _hell _was going on today? The new girl just kept getting stranger and stranger.

"Have a heart, Jacks," Kelso demanded. "I remember when my dog died—"

"Kelso! It was a balloon animal," Donna exclaimed exasperatedly.

"That doesn't make it hurt any less when it pops! _Damn, _Donna!" he shouted.

* * *

Chris sighed as she lay down and made herself comfortable on the cold, iron floor of the water tower. She rubbed her arms and listened to the soothing sound of her teeth chattering. She glanced up at the stars, imagining a life where she didn't have to hide out or cover up injuries or lie to her loved ones. She let out a small sigh. This was going to be a long night.

"Dad?" Eric asked tentatively as he entered the kitchen late that night. Red looked up skeptically at his son: it was two-thirty in the morning. Usually, the whole house was asleep by now. He was shocked—and pissed— at the fact that his quiet time reading the paper had been interrupted by the unwelcome company of his un-athletic nerd of a son. "Damn it, Eric, can't you see I'm busy?"

"I… need help," he said uncomfortably, not used to asking his dad for advice about _anything._

"Unless it has something to do with your ass desperately needing a foot in it, I'm not interested," Red responded evenly, not even bothering to look up from his paper. He wasn't reading it anymore; he just didn't want his son to think he was interested in whatever he had to say.

"No, Dad. I'm being serious. There's this… this kid, right? I haven't known the person very long but it feels like I have. And the person is always getting injured, but always has excuses for it. But Dad, I saw this person yesterday and they were really hurt, and made me promise not to tell anyone. I don't know what to do."

"Probably just a stupid kid getting his ass handed to him by somebody bigger," Red responded dismissively. "A good pummeling every now and then is good for people's development."

"It's a _girl, _Dad."

Red's attention was instantly caught, and he placed down his paper to study his son's face. "A _girl?_"

"Yeah."

"Does she have a boyfriend? Maybe he—"

"No," Eric said definitely, knowing that Fez wasn't capable of doing such things.

"…Huh. Have you talked to anybody else about this?"

"She said not to tell anybody."

"Who's the girl?"

"It's…" Eric's voice trailed off as he tried to figure out what he should do. "Dad, I promised her."

"How am I supposed to help her if I don't know who the hell she is?" Red demanded, beginning to get frustrated with the stick-figure sitting in front of him.

"Well… when a man makes a promise, he keeps it!"

"Son, being as you said 'man' and not 'dumbass', that quote doesn't apply to this situation in the least."

"_Seriously, _Dad! I mean, would Luke Skywalker—"

His father cut in by interjecting, "Would the little green freak tell that big hairy guy if the man in the black with the breathing problems was going to kill him?"

"Dad, that's _different. _Chewbacca has a light saber, and Chris is—" Eric froze when he realized that he let the name slip. _Oh. Crap._

"_Chris?_" Red exclaimed.

At that moment, Eric decided to verbalize his one and only thought: "Oh, crap."

* * *

Chris was on her way to her cooking class when Fez appeared at her side. Instead of offering to carry her books for her or compliment her, he played with his hands and said nervously, "Listen, Chris—"

"I agree," she responded nonchalantly, not even bothering to look over at him.

"Hmm?"

"We should break up," she clarified. She'd gone through enough of them to know a dumping when it was coming. Usually, when guys discovered she didn't put out up-front they left the picture.

"…That is it?" Fez demanded. "No crying? No kneeling on the ground and _begging _for Fez?"

"Honey, even if I _did _still have feelings for you, that's _definitely _not my style." She left him in the hallway and walked into the school's Home Economics room. She stood behind her kitchen partner's shoulder, watching what he was doing and wondering what was so important about mixing things in a bowl that he had to be in the room even before the teacher. "What are you doing?" she finally inquired.

"I didn't do it!" Eric shouted, throwing up the bowl and splashing liquids all over his shirt and the floor. He held his hands in the air by his chest in denial.

"What's—" she began as she took a step closer to him. Her foot landed in the water on the ground, and she slipped. Eric reached out to catch her, but his lack of upper body strength brought them both crashing down.

"Shit," Chris hissed in pain, then looked up at Eric and informed him, "Nice catch." He was lying on top of her, his left hand pressed between the floor and the small of Chris's back. His eyes were focused on her chest, which was pressed against his. She reached up and placed her hand under Eric's chin, tilting his head up so that their eyes met. "I'm up here, dumbass."

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "It's just that you…" His sentence trailed off as he slowly began to get more and more lost in her eyes. He got so lost, in fact, that he didn't notice his lips falling to crush hers.

It wasn't until they heard a doorknob turning that they pulled apart. They both shared the same expression—ashamed, guilty, and a little bit disgusted. Eric and Chris were both breathing raggedly as Eric stood and pulled Chris to her feet. The teacher came in, looked at the two red-faced kids standing by the counter, and demanded, "What was going on in here?"

"We came in to work on our recipes, but the bowl was dirty. We washed it but the water got on the floor, and I tripped on it. Being the nerd he is, Forman couldn't hold me up so when he tried to catch me we both fell." Chris shot a scornful look at her friend. His only response was to smile sheepishly and let out a meek "Sorry."

* * *

Chris sighed and took a swig from one of the beers she had mooched off of the guy at the liquor store. She stared up at the star-filled sky and wondered what it was like up there, and if anybody was looking down on her. She played with the idea that someone, anyone, was watching her every move, waiting for just the right moment to whisk her away and save her. They would swoop down and take her away, leaving all of her problems behind: her whore of a mom, the assholes she constantly found herself falling for, the druggie who felt the constant need to beat her… She finished off the beer, crushed it in her hand, and threw it to the ground along with her first one. She dangled her feet off the ledge and scowled back at the moon— there were no such things as heroes and happy endings and safe places. No matter what, Domino would always find her; pain would once again become her constant companion. If Wisconsin had taught her anything, it was that.

She glanced down when she felt something being dropped in her lap. She looked at the beer cans incredulously before she looked over and saw the culprit. _Hyde. _Of course. He cut through the silence by inquiring, "Care to donate a beer to a worthy cause?"

"No— but I suppose _you _could have one." She took the third and fourth beers out of the holder and handed one to him, trying as hard as she could to forget the last time they had had drinks together, back when they were still friends.

"A six-pack, huh? You expecting someone?"

"No," she responded bitterly, trying not to dwell on the fact that she'd been living on the water tower for three days and that nobody's company could solace her.

"You brought the whole thing for yourself?"

"And you, apparently."

He swallowed a mouthful of beer and decided, "Your comebacks are improving."

She gestured to the green painting the gang had designed a few months before she moved to Point Place. "Well, once I came up here and saw a pot leaf giving me the finger, I figured it was time to develop a sense of humor."

Hyde regarded their artwork critically before responding, "You're getting there." He watched Chris drink halfway through her beer in silence before he began, "Listen, about the other day…"

"Stop it," she demanded harshly. "Right now."

"Stop _what?_"

"You were about to go all soft and stop hating me."

"So?"

She looked at him like he was a complete an utter dumbass. "You can't do that."

"I can't do what— be _nice?_" he asked incredulously.

"Exactly!" she fumed. "You have to stay mean and angry and vicious! You have to hate me, Hyde. You _have to._"

"I don't _have _to do anything."

"You _can't _like me, Hyde! You have to hate me, or it won't _work,_" she pleaded.

"_What _won't work?" Hyde demanded, staring at her face intently, as if suddenly her meanings would appear on her forehead.

"I can't do it!" she screeched desperately. "Please. Please, Hyde. Hate me."

"I could never hate you," he told her softly, the closest he had ever gotten to admitting he had feelings other than anger towards someone.

"You _have to! _Hyde, I've lied to you, I went out with your best friend, I flip out on you for no reason, I lie to you, I keep secrets, I hit on you and then ignore you, I dissed you in front of your friends, I exploited your feelings for personal gain, and I even lied about doing Fez on your bed!" she glared at him fiercely and demanded, "What more could I _possibly _do?"

"Chris, I—"

She ignored his words and instead began to cry. "I hate you, you son of a bitch, I hate you."

"Shut up. No, you don't."

"Why the hell can't you stay mad?" she shouted at him through her tears. "_Why?_"

"Why do you _want _me to?" he challenged.

She averted her gaze, choosing to stare down at her feet. She looked back at his face, but decided she couldn't handle looking at him. Instead, Chris looked in the opposite direction and whispered softly, "I can't save you if you don't hate me."

* * *

_**A/N: Just so you know, I'm hereby changing the name of this story from "Give Me Wings" to "Yours to Hold" either tomorrow or the next day. I'm doing this because I found this amazing song, 'Yours to Hold' by Skillet, that I think fits Hyde's mindset in this FanFic perfectly. Being as he and Chris are the main focuses, I figured it would be good to change the title to something that fits him a little better…Anyways, sorry for the change and you should DEFINITELY look up the song. Seriously, check it out! Oh, and thanks for reading this chapter~!**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**Author's Note: The last chapter was a tad on the sad side, was it not? Boo ): I can't exactly offer you any solace in this one; it's pretty short, and more of a suspense-builder than anything It's actually my shortest chapter so far... I promise that the next chapter will be better, though!**_

_**~~Quick side note: check out "I Screamed, But No One Hears Me" by letmefallasleep. Amazing FanFic. (I would've given you a link, but my computer won't let me.) It isn't even near done yet, but it's great so far and deserves way more attention than it's gotten. Even if you're too lazy to read it, you really should because I'm using that story (thank you again, letmefallasleep, for letting me use your ideas) as kind of a background for Hyde. His past doesn't get mentioned often in this story, but keep in mind that the story there is how the Hyde we see here was raised. Cool? Cool.**_

A week passed. Seven long, freezing, rain-filled, Chris-less days. The weather was crap on the first day of Chris's absence, so Hyde had gone over to the water tower. He'd planned on taking her back home with him. While passing by his old house he saw his mother's car outside—_looks like Edna's back in town, _he thought drily— and quickly scrapped that plan. He debated whether he would be able to sneak Chris into his room in the Forman's basement: it was risky, but the idea of helping Chris was worth every ounce of trouble he would earn if caught. He didn't want her out here in the freezing rain and bone-chilling wind. As it turned out, he needn't worry; once he'd made the climb up the water tower, he saw that Chris wasn't there. He waited for a few minutes before making his way back to the Formans'.

The next day, he noted Chris's absence from all of her classes and once again returned to the water tower after school. He began to get frustrated with himself—why was he freaking out over nothing? He was walking around town like a moron, even going as far as to carry an extra coat on his arm just in case some _chick _didn't have one. He scowled, trying to convince himself that she was probably sitting in her house right now. If it was any girl but Chris, it'd be the obvious answer, and much easier to make himself believe. However, he knew he wasn't going to just be able to talk himself into the idea. He cursed his feelings for taking over him and slowly trekked over to Chris's house. He was so mad at himself— for liking her, for caring about her despite everything, for dragging his stupid ass out into the cold for no reason. Most of all, he hated the fact that he could constantly sense when she was in trouble. He was always the first by her side to help her, no matter what, and he loathed that. Where other people might view it as compassion or dependability, he thought it made him weak and everything he had promised not to become. He wanted to be independent, never needing anybody or anything; never caring for anybody but himself. Hyde knew his mission was impossible from the moment he met the Formans, but he was fine with caring for just his foster family and Donna. He'd come to accept that. The fact that his horizons were expanding to let another person in—someone he wasn't even sure could stand to be near him, let alone return his feelings— scared the shit out of him. He hated being scared. Fear pissed him off more than almost anything else. This reasoning forced him to turn and trudge back to his foster home, ignoring all desperate internal screamings to check up on the new girl.

Four days after that, it was Saturday. Nobody had seen or heard from Chris even once, and both Hyde and Eric were a little antsy. Hyde was sitting in the basement tapping his foot, staring off into space and wondering what the hell she could possibly be doing. She hadn't been in school, or at the water tower, or in the basement. She'd practically disappeared. He was playing with the idea of mentioning something to the rest of the gang when Red made his way down the stairs.

He studied all of the kids' faces before frowning and looking at his son. "Where's Chris?"

"We haven't seen her since the Monday after the barbeque," Donna said.

"She is probably upset about my dumping her," Fez decided smugly. "I have broken her heart, and she needs time to heal. After all, losing Fez is like losing the lottery."

"Or maybe she's just upset that even the biggest freak in all of Point Place doesn't want her," Jackie offered.

"Go to hell, Jackie," Hyde snarled without thinking. The moment he realized he'd let his Zen slip and actually defended the girl, he went back to staring blankly at the television.

"You haven't seen her since Monday?" Red repeated, shooting another meaningful look at his son.

"Nope!" Kelso confirmed.

"You _dumbasses!_" Red exclaimed before making his way back up the stairs. How could Eric not tell him about this, especially after what had happened to the girl at his barbeque, right under his own nose? He scowled and took a beer out of the fridge. He finished it before making his way over to the phone and beginning to make a few phone calls.

He was determined to find out where the new girl had disappeared to.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Author's Note: Helloo errybody(: I'm in kind of an odd mood, so I'm not exactly sure of how this will turn out… but whatever! This chapter has a few sad attempts at darker moments... Bear with me? I'm not all that great at dark writing, so pardon me if I don't quite get the effect right. There's also a few F-bombs dropped, so be warned! I highly doubt any of you are going to care about that, but I don't usually use them in my writing, so I thought I'd share(: In other news, I'm probably going to be changing the title back to "Give Me Wings." Not only did the change upset some of the readers, but after I changed it I felt like it gave the wrong first impression for this story. Anyways, here we go(:**_

"Naw, man, I told you," Hyde told Kelso without much remaining patience. "It's B-I-N-G-O, man!"

"Does it really matter how you spell the farmer's dog's name?" Fez asked. "It will be skinned and eaten either way."

Jackie squealed. "_EWEWEWEWEW!_"

Hyde began to laugh, but choked on the smoke-filled air and instead coughed. Eric looked at Fez disgustedly and exclaimed, "Man, where the _hell _are you from?"

"You do not eat dogs here?" Fez asked in shock, as if the gang had finally shared with him the fact that the marijuana they all smoked so freely was illegal. "Aye…"

Any other comments that were going to be made on the subject of Fez's origin and odd customs was cut off by Donna pounding down the steps. "HYDE! ERIC!" She sprinted into the smoky basement and informed the two resident teenagers, "Red wants to talk to both of you guys. He almost came down but I saved your asses— so, uh, I think I've earned myself a little reward. Hand over the joint."

Kelso tossed it over to her, but it fell short. Hyde reached forward and grabbed it before it could hit the floor and start a fire, but he winced when he grabbed the lit side and burned his hand. He was used to it though, so he merely handed it to her and wiped his hands on his jeans before going up the stairs. She watched him and her boyfriend leave before taking Eric's seat in the circle and saying conversationally, "So, Fez… dogs, huh?"

* * *

Hyde forced himself to remain calm when he walked into the large building with the Formans. He ignored how his heart was pounding in his chest; he was so scared of not only where he was, but what he would see. Red hadn't told them anything other than that they needed to come with him, so he had no idea what he was in for. He clenched his fists and followed Red's shaky stride, lining up right behind Eric. The fact that the war veteran was so freaked out didn't exactly put Hyde at ease, either. Kitty seemed calm enough, but she _worked _in this building. There was nothing she hadn't seen, and he imagined that it would take a lot to unsettle her after all of her years in the medical field.

As Mr. and Mrs. Forman filed into room seven-twenty-six, Eric followed but stopped in the doorway and inhaled sharply. He'd known what he was coming into, but he'd never expected it to be _this _bad… He almost felt himself choke up. He was so _stupid! _He'd known, and yet he'd _still_ waited so long to tell anyone… What the hell was his problem? Why couldn't he do anything right?

Hyde couldn't stand to wait, so he pushed Eric as hard as he could to get him out of the entrance and broke his way into the room. He stumbled slightly because he'd applied more force than necessary, but he straightened himself up instantly. As soon as he saw what their little trip was about, he almost gasped as well. There were blinking machines everywhere, and an EKG beeped every second or so. There were a million tubes attached to a girl lying in a hospital bed, one of them being an IV. Her leg was propped up in a sling, her right arm was folded over her chest in a cast, and she had a huge black eye that had begun healing and was turning a sickly shade of green. The rest of her body was also covered in various cuts, bruises, gashes, and scrapes. Her dirty blonde hair spilled behind her onto the pillow, and her face involuntarily lit up when she saw her visitors. "Hey, guys," she croaked.

He stared at the girl with a hardened expression, all the while forcing himself to remain calm. _Zen, man. Zen._ He hand flew to his pocket and he suddenly understood why Kitty had told him to bring the contents of it with him. He waited until he trusted his voice to not waver as he spoke before he decided on a simple, "Hey, Chris."

"Are you doing alright?" Eric asked her casually. Hyde cast him a look of doubt. Obviously, _he'd _known what was going on from the beginning— so why was Hyde the only one left in the dark?

"Aside from my broken bones, concussion, black eyes, and other various head wounds? Just peachy." Chris caught the '_I am insanely pissed off and about to explode_' look on Red's face and apologized instantly, "Sorry if I sound a little bitter— it's just not all that much fun to lay in a hospital room for days on end."

"How long are you stuck in this hellhole?" Hyde asked. He hated hospitals more than almost anything else; they brought back too many memories.

"I'll be out Tuesday. Probably back in school Wednesday— but who the hell knows?"

Red broke the silence that followed her statement by asking, "What happened?"

"I, uh, fell off the water tower. I honestly don't know how Kelso does it all the time— it hurt like a _bitch._" She forced out a laugh and a smile.

"Honey? Okay, uh, dear, cut the crap," Kitty said light-heartedly before letting out her signature laugh.

"What… what are you talking about?" Chris asked blankly, trying to play it dumb and praying it would work. She would die of shame if her secret got out. _You'll die anyway, dumbass, _she reminded herself. She debated whether or not to stick by the façade after that, but she had already started and she wasn't the half-ass kind of girl.

"Who's hitting you?" Red demanded harshly. When he noticed the flabbergasted look his wife was giving him, he exclaimed, "Well, _damn, _Kitty, beating around the bush isn't going to help the girl any."

Chris glanced at Hyde and then Eric, who looked a lot guiltier than Hyde did. She shot him a dirty look— one that said, _'I trusted you. I thought we were friends. How the hell could you do this to me?'—_before moving her eyes back to Red and saying solemnly, "Nobody, Mr. Forman."

"You'd better not lie to me," he growled. His tone reminded her of Domino, which made her cringe internally. She managed to keep a straight face, though, before deciding to answer him.

"Okay, let's just say you're right," Chris decided conversationally. Her bright tone only remained for that sentence before her rage began to shine through. "Let's say that somebody beat the shit out of me and shoved me off the water tower. Let's say that he left me for dead and I walked all the way to the fucking hospital and almost died about eight hundred times on the way. _Let's just say that my other story was a load of shit. _It wouldn't matter! Because y'know what would happen, Red? I sure as hell do. My mom would be too drunk to remember my name, let alone whether her boyfriend beats me. And if by some miracle she _did _remember, she'd shoot so much fucking heroin up her arm that she'd just forget again. My dad wouldn't do a damn thing about anything, because who in God's name knows _where _the fuck he is? The man who beat me and his lawyers would lie and cheat and weasel their way out of prison, because I sure as hell wouldn't rat him out. After all, if I say nothing happened, he might let me live; right? But no. You guys would all tell the courts what you've seen and heard, and that would be enough for him. In the end, it would be your word against mine. And even though I testified _for _him, the son of a bitch would kill me. And then, he'd just go after you and you and you and _you,_ and everyone else I care about in this stupid, fucked up world because nothing's fair. Nothing works out the way it should, and that's life— a luxury I won't possess if you guys don't just fucking _drop this!_"

"Is that what _he _told you?" Kitty asked softly.

"It… That was all hypothetical," Chris mumbled, looking away to hide her face. She couldn't believe she'd just done that, especially in front of Hyde! He probably thought she was so stupid… hell, _she _thought she was stupid. Why didn't she know how to keep her friggen mouth shut?

"Is that something that the man would threaten you with, were it true?" Eric asked slowly. He was scared out of his mind, and didn't think his approach would work, but he was determined to get the answers out of Chris.

"Uh-huh," she responded without thinking, cursing herself for her lack of thought before adding, "And I'd be a fool not to believe him."

"But why… why would he hurt you to this extent?" Kitty wondered softly, strong when it came to injuries but soft when it came to the children that practically lived in her basement. "Why now?"

Chris debated internally for a bit before fixating her gaze on Hyde and deciding to respond with a hesitant, "Were a man to do this to a girl…" She almost lost her confidence but forced the underlying meaning out through her eyes as she weakly continued, "…it would probably be because she wouldn't bring him her best friend. The one who saved her ungrateful ass too many times to count and for some reason refused to hate her."

Eric noticed the way they communicated through their eyes, messages nobody but they would be able to receive, and voiced: "Mom? Dad? Can I talk to you out in the hall real quick?"

"Eric," Red said sharply. "In case you haven't noticed, we're kind of in the middle of—"

"Come on," Kitty commanded her husband, and pulled him out into the hallway after their son. Chris's heart rate began to speed up a bit on the EKG as soon as she and Hyde were alone.

"What happened?" Hyde asked Chris as soon as the door had shut behind the Formans. He pulled a chair over by her hospital bed and straddled it, studying her face and relishing the fact that ever move he made increased the speed on the monotonous _beepbeepbeepbeep _coming from her heart monitor.

"I fell."

"Cut the crap. It's just me."

She paused before taking a deep breath and launching into the story of what had happened. "He wanted me to bring 'the guy that punched him' back to the house with me… So I didn't come back to the house, and he found me and kicked the living shit out of me. So I'm here. But, I mean, I guess it's kind of worth it… I mean, I… I couldn't let him kill you! That's why I needed you to hate me. It was so much easier to keep you from getting hurt that way. I know he'd probably slaughter me if I didn't bring you back, and I didn't want you to miss me, and… and… Fuck."

He hated her whole speech that to him basically screamed, _'Look, more things to blame on Steven!' _but instead focused on her voice. He'd missed her, and he hated that. He hated caring. But he loved watching her lips move as she talked— just hearing her voice was beautiful. He wasn't used to her giving such heated speeches and definitely wasn't used to hearing her drop f-bombs everywhere. He thought it was disgusting how even the word fuck could be perfect coming from her, but it was, and that was just another thing for him to hate about himself. "You're a dumbass," he evaluated.

"Well, I couldn't just bring you to your death!" she exclaimed with exasperated passion. He had a feeling she would have thrown her arms in the air if there wasn't an IV restraining her movement.

"Did you honestly think that I wouldn't miss you like crazy?"

"I was hoping," she responded sheepishly, a small smile brightening her injured face. "I mean, since you hated me and all, I figured—"

"You need to shut the fuck up," he informed her before impulsively pressing his lips to hers. He hadn't planned it, and cursed himself for it. He was about to start pulling away when her mouth opened to welcome him. Their lips clashed as they began to explore each other's mouths for the first time. _For a first kiss, this is pretty fucking great, _he thought to himself as his tongue slowly and carefully ventured the area of her mouth. When she returned his graceful behavior instead of beginning to whimper and beg for more like most girls did, he found himself being the one desperately wanting more. He forgot that they were in a hospital and began to get on top of her. He had only just begun to put his weight on the bed before he felt her heavy cast lightly touch him. He pulled back immediately and asked, "Did I hurt your—"

"You need to shut the fuck up," she informed him with a large grin before yanking his head back down to hers.

* * *

Out in the hallway, Red gave Eric one of his signature _'What the hell' _glares. "What the _hell _do you want?" he exclaimed purely out of anger.

"Um. Well. I wanted to give Hyde and Chris some 'alone' time."

Father stared blankly at son, wondering where he had gone wrong with his shrimpy child. Was he really thinking about helping his best friend score with an abused girl who was lying in the hospital with an insane amount of injuries? "And why the _hell _would you do that?"

Kitty nudged her son, who had gone silent due to his fear of having feet shoved up his ass. Eric looked down at his mom and remembered that his father would never beat his ass while she was around. He warily responded, "Because. She trusts him more than anybody, and obviously wasn't going to spill everything out to us."

"What will that do for us?" Red demanded harshly, growing impatient.

"He has a recorder in his shirt… He's going to tape everything that she says so she won't be able to deny anything."

Red looked at his wife, astounded. "Were you in on this?"

"It was all him," she responded proudly.

His gaze moved back over to his son as he said in shock, "Eric… You smart S.O.B."

* * *

_**A/N: I feel like the circle conversation was insanely weak, but I was eager to get this up and finally have another chapter so I didn't bother fixing it. Sorry. ): I also recently hit 1,000 views for this story... It may not seem like a lot to some of you, but for my first story, I think a thousand people in around a month's time frame is pretty friggen great. So thanks to all of you(:**_


	11. Chapter 11

_**Author's Note: Finally… they kiss! :D Took long enough. I've been waiting for that for, like, ever… Anyways. In this chapter, there's a little bit of tension, a little bit of broken trust, yadda yadda yadda. Nothing dark. But I hope you enjoy it anyways(: **_

_***In addition: the italics in the first scene are the conversation going on in the tape. If it's not italicized, then it's an actual conversation going on at that moment.**_

* * *

Kitty, Red, Hyde, and Eric all sat around the kitchen table later that night. They had stayed at the hospital until visiting hours were over and they were physically forced out of the room, and Kitty had remained even later to watch over Chris. She wasn't a nurse at that particular hospital, but between her and Chris's pleading, they had let her stay due to fortunate circumstances: the nurse who was supposed to take the next shift was overloaded with patients and was very glad to be rid of one. Because of that, it was near midnight when Kitty got home— but she came into a house full of stone-faced family. They had been forced by Red to wait for his wife's arrival before listening to Chris and Hyde's taped conversation. She quickly took off her coat and sat at the round kitchen table, hitting play on the cassette recorder the moment she sat down.

_"Well, I couldn't just bring you to your death!" Chris exclaimed passionately._

_"Did you honestly think that I wouldn't miss you like crazy?"_

_"I was hoping," she responded sheepishly._ _"I mean, since you hated me and all, I figured—"_

_"You need to shut the fuck up," he informed her before the audio was filled with the crumpling of clothes against the mic, the sound of lips smacking together, and a small clang where the cassette recorder hit Chris's cast._

"Hah—sorry," Hyde said proudly. "You might want to skip it forward about a minute or so."

"God damnit, Steven!" Red growled at him. "Taking advantage of a—"

The sound of Hyde's voice cut off Red's protests. _"You're crazy, Chris. Honestly. I don't know how you could've ever thought that I didn't care about you. I mean, the way I feel… you said it yourself, that one time when we were in the basement—" His voice broke slightly before he continued, "But really. I—"_

Hyde leaned forward to skip through this portion of the tape. "Fast forward it about thirty more seconds," he mumbled, talking over his own voice and making it impossible to hear his words.

Kitty smacked his hand away. "Oh, no— _this _is where it gets interesting."

"C'mon, Mrs. Forman!" he exclaimed. "Nobody's interested in hearing this… Right, Eric?"

Eric grinned as he responded, "I, for one, am _very _interested." The table fell silent just in time to hear Chris's voice say, _"And Eric kissed me in Home Ec. a few days before I started missing school."_

His face paled as he reached over the fast forward and mumbled, "This is so… so irrelevant…"

"Alright, _fine,_" Kitty huffed. "I'll listen to the _whole _thing later!"

"Eric, you—" Red began to shout in rage. He had become very protective of this girl, despite only having known her for a few months.

"Shh!" Kitty demanded and gestured to the tape.

_"And what happened the other day? At the barbeque? You were acting weird when you and Foreplay came back, and I highly doubt that you hooked up with Eric. He didn't seem proud enough, and you didn't seem disgusted enough."_

"Hey, man!" Eric protested.

_"Domino was there," Chris said solemnly. "He was pretending to be my dad. I tried to get away from him. I… I tried…" Her voice broke off, but it was steady when she began to continue. "Anyways, when I woke up, Eric walked in on me. I made him promise not to tell anyone… although he obviously isn't as good at keeping secrets as I thought. He helped me get all cleaned up."_

_"And you didn't tell _me _because…?"_

_"Domino wanted to kill you. If you knew he was there, ten bucks says you would've tried to beat the living shit out of him, am I right?" After a short pause, she went on, "Exactly. And then he would know what you looked like, _and _where to find you. So if he couldn't kill you then… well, it wouldn't exactly take him very long to get rid of you." There was a longer pause before she added, "Besides, you hated me. It was so much better for the both of us that you assumed I was off being a whore instead of having known the truth."_

_"Chris—"_

_"Don't bother," she said dismissively. "Your opinions were justified."_

_"I wouldn't have been such an ass if I had known what had really happened."_

_"Well… _now _you know."_

_"So… what? You expect me to suddenly transform into the nicest guy you've ever met?"_

_"Hell no! Then you wouldn't even be Hyde. You'd be _Steven, _and if you turned into _Steven _you'd be sensitive and kind all the time, and that's boring as hell. Just stop accusing me of sleeping with every guy I talk to, 'kay?"_

_Hyde laughed shortly before pressing his lips to Chris's again, being gentle this time instead of full-on kissing her._

"Sorry," Hyde apologized again with a grin. He ignored the dirty looks that Red shot his way and instead tuned in to his own voice again.

_"So, how long has Domino… been like this?"_

_"Well, I think I was about eleven when my mom started acting like… well, when she started being a prostitute, I mean. That was a little before my dad left, and once he did, Domino became a long-term client. I think I met him for the first time when I was twelve or thirteen… I accused him of being a home-wrecker, and he slapped me. After that everything just went downhill. Things just got worse and worse until…"_

_"Until…?" Hyde prompted._

_"He killed me. Literally. They had to use those little shock-paddle thingies on me to get my heart started back up. That was how I met my best friend Ashton, as pathetic as that sounds. He was one of the nurse's kids, and it was bring your kid to work day. He stayed the whole day with me… But anyways, after the whole ordeal, it kind of gave my mom a wake-up call, and she realized that having Domino around wasn't exactly the smartest move in the world. It took her another two years, but she eventually moved us out of California to get away from him. We came here because this is where my dad had run off to… But moving here also made it that much easier for Domino to find us again. It was the most predictable spot for us to run to."_

_"Did you ever… tell anybody? About any of this?"_

_"Well… Ashton knew, to an extent. But other than him, you're the only other person. Well… I mean, Eric _kind of _knows. But he only knows pretty much what Ashton knew, which is basically just that I've gotten beaten up once or twice. Neither of them would know anything if they hadn't happened upon me right after getting hit."_

_"And why didn't you?"_

_"Because. Domino made it very clear what he would do to me if I did."_

_"But you're telling me, now. What's changed that makes it okay to share?"_

_"Eh, I'm sure that I'll pay for it later. But I think I'm relatively safe— for the moment. I mean, he can't exactly kill me while I'm _in _the hospital, can he?"_

_"This is so freaking stupid. You're only… what, sixteen? You should be like… like _Jackie. _Except cooler. And less of a bitch. Kind of like Donna."_

_"Um… thanks, I think?" Chris guessed._

_Hyde scoffed at his sad excuse for an attempt at conversation. "Damn. That came out sounding ridiculously stupid… What I meant to say was that you shouldn't have to go through anywhere as near as much as you do."_

_There was a moment of silence before there was a click of a door and footsteps. Kitty's voice came over the speaker with a cheerful, "Well, I hope we didn't miss too much!" and a very uncomfortable laugh._

"Do I really laugh like that?" Kitty asked nervously before letting out another awkward laugh.

"…Of course not, Mom!" Eric exclaimed. "You know how recordings always alter the sound of your voice and what you hear and such."

Red shut off the tape—everyone had been there for the rest of it—before deciding, "I'll bring this down to the station first thing tomorrow morning."

Kitty nodded in agreement. "I'll see if Bob will take her in once she's out of the hospital," she added, and began to make her way towards the sliding door.

"Why couldn't she just stay here, man?" Hyde asked.

Red gave him one of his signature _'you are SUCH a dumbass' _looks before saying, "You would like that, now, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, Dad!" Eric exclaimed, agreeing vigorously with Hyde. "She could take Laurie's room. I mean, why impose on Bob when we have space here?"

Red looked between the two teenagers incredulously. "Do you think I'm a dumbass?" He pointed at Hyde and added, "We already have _one _orphan. We don't need a girl, too."

"But—"

_"One more word and my feet will be so far up your asses that you'll be able to taste it," _Red threatened before making his way out of the room with the tape.

* * *

Chris could do nothing but stare blankly at Hyde while he explained what he'd done to her. She couldn't even wrap her head around his backstabbing ways—of all the people in the world, she'd expected this from him last. She couldn't believe that he'd gone behind her back and… and… No. He hadn't even just _told _somebody about Domino. _That_ she may have been able to handle. But he'd actually recorded every word out of her mouth. Every moment they'd shared during that conversation had all been a lie. A meaningless ploy to get information out of her.

"…Chris?" Hyde asked uncertainly. Chris had been silent throughout his entire speech, and had shown absolutely no reaction afterwards. He wasn't sure what to think about that; he'd had himself prepped for an onslaught of tears or _something._

"You did _what?_" she finally screeched. She couldn't… He'd betrayed her. That's all she understood. She'd opened up to him, trusted him, and he'd gone behind her back and done… _this._

"I'm sorry, okay? But, hey, it's for your own good. Chris, I did this for _you._"

"Gee, thanks," she said sarcastically.

"Look, it isn't like this doesn't suck for me too, okay? Some of the things I said… they'll definitely give people the wrong impression about me. The torture will be endless."

Chris just stared at him again. When had he suddenly because a complete and utter moron? He was actually comparing their losses, as if they were even close to each other. "So… _you _have people thinking that you might actually have a soul somewhere deep down inside your criminal shell, and I get put on a hit list," she clarified. "Sounds about even."

"Yeah, but you'll be moving in with Donna, so he won't know where to find you. And, I'll be the boy next door…"

"Classic old-school romance novel," she scoffed, dismissing his words with a wave of her hand. "That's so… sixties."

"No, Chris. I don't doromance. You know that. What I meant was… if _I'm _the boy next door, then we can have as many midnight rendezvous as we want."

"So basically, another upside for _you,_" she evaluated with a small smile.

"You'd be surprised, Christina Elizabeth Steele. Time spent with me is usually appreciated, and I have never once left someone unsatisfied," he responded with a provocatively raised eyebrow.

"Yeah— I'm sure that you and your hands have had some great times!" She reached over, patted his stomach to see if anything was there, and asked warily, "_This _isn't being recorded too, is it?"

"No." He eyed her facial expression and added, "Which means..?"

"Nothing," she responded with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "It means nothing."

Hyde frowned at her, putting his sunglasses on so that she wouldn't be able to see the hurt in his eyes. He hated that. "Chris— Listen to me, okay? It was for your own good. I wouldn't have done that to you if I didn't think it would help you."

"I don't care," she decided. "I really don't. I'm over it. I mean… one way I'm free, and the other I die. Either way, I'm done with him. It's a win-win."

"_No, _Chris. That's just…" He fought to find a word that described how wrong a world without her would be. None came to mind; he doubted that one even existed. "No."

She didn't even look at him. She just continued staring at the floor. Hyde couldn't help but frown at that—that was so unlike her. He'd expected her to look up and try to read his expression. That was what she always did after he or anyone else spoke, and he couldn't help but hate her for being so good at it. The fact that she didn't even _try _said a lot about how pissed at him she was.

"Hey there, hi there, ho there!" Bob exclaimed as he came through the doorway. He looked over at the crippled girl and asked, "Are you ready to go, Crystal?"

She looked him directly in the eye and smiled, ignoring the fact that he'd gotten her name wrong. "Yeah."

_Shit. She's really, really, REALLY pissed at me. She's even more pissed than I'd thought, _Hyde thought to himself. He wasn't sure which was worse: the tears he'd expected or this sudden shut-out. He got up and offered her his hand, but she ignored it. Instead, she forced herself to her feet shakily, grabbed the crutches lying against the wall near her bed, and took an unsteady step forward. She stumbled a bit, but before Hyde could help her she straightened her back and wobbled out of the room, holding her head high.

Bob maintained eye contact with Chris, but the second she was out of hearing distance he whispered, "It's like she's looking into your soul…"

Hyde couldn't help but laugh humorlessly at that. The side of his mouth quirked up in a sad smile as he half-joked, "Yeah— good thing I don't have one."

* * *

Donna glanced awkwardly at Chris as she gestured around her—_their_ room. "So… this is my bed, and that's your bed, Fez's favorite hiding spot—I suggest checking it before going to sleep or taking a shower or changing. And here's the closet… We're both pretty much the same size, except for in dresses, so I hope you don't mind but all of your stuff is kind of just mixed in with mine."

Chris nodded with a smile that hurt her face but was totally worth it— Donna needed to know how appreciated all of her help and hospitality was. "Awesome! I've been absolutely _dying _to borrow some of your clothes. They're complete knock-outs."

Donna grinned and admitted, "I was hoping you wouldn't notice that I was wearing some of yours if I mixed them together."

Chris laughed. "I honestly don't care. Wear them, stain them, rip them… clothes are just clothes. I'm no Jackie. Just be warned, some shirts _may _mysteriously vanish if you look better in them than me."

"As _if,_" Donna scoffed.

Chris raised an eyebrow, surprised by that. She regarded her dubiously and demanded, "You… do you honestly _not _know how amazingly gorgeous-slash-perfect you are?"

"Well… I… um… I... don't know how to respond to that. This is awkward," Donna finally said. They both cracked up. As their giggles began to fade into silence, Chris's face fell as she was hit by an overwhelming sense of guilt. She found herself thinking of her kiss with Eric, and how bad it was of her to do to her friend and new roommate. _Tell her, _she told herself— but she lacked the courage. She _needed _to get it out, though; she knew it would bother her forever unless she got this giant weight off of her chest.

"Donna?" she said tentatively.

"Hmm?"

"I'm… I'm sorry I'm such a bad friend," Chris blurted out, unable to actually get out the words to admit to her and Eric's kiss yet.

"For _what?_" Donna exclaimed incredulously. "You've never been anything but nice to me, Chris. I don't know what the hell you're—" She frowned slightly and asked, "Wait… what don't I know?"

"Okay. Well… Okay. Remember how Kelso was making fun of me and Eric in the basement at the barbeque because he thought we hooked up and we both denied it?"

Donna's face drained of color. "You two did it, didn't you? You… you guys… He lost his… to _you!_"

"No, no, no!" Chris assured her instantly. _Well, that approached backfired… _"We never had sex. And we didn't hook up at the barbeque. Alright, that was a really crappy start. Sorry about that. But I just… Alright, I'm going to just keep rambling until I lose the courage to tell you unless I just blurt it out, so I'm just going to blurt it out and… I kissed Eric in cooking class. But I swear, it only lasted for a few seconds, and there wasn't any tongue or anything, and it was really gross and a total mistake, and I in no way have feelings for him, and if I could take in back I would, and I swear it'll never happen again, and it was only _once_, and I feel so guilty, and I… I… " Chris looked at Donna pleadingly. "I know I'm horrible. But can you please, please, _please _at least try and forgive me? I'm just… such a messed up person. I don't know what got into me."

"Did… did you kiss him? Or did he kiss you?" Donna asked slowly, careful to control the emotion in her voice. How she reacted would depend on the details. "And… how long ago was this?" She sat down on her bed, unable to wrap her head around the fact that Eric had kissed another girl and not _told her._

"I kissed him," Chris lied. "And… a while ago. Not too long, I guess. A little after the barbeque. But Donna, please don't be mad… and if you're _going _to be mad, blame it all on me, not Eric. It wasn't his fault, it was mine; and he wanted to tell you! I made him promise not to. I'm so sorry, Donna. It's all my fault, and—"

She cut herself off when Donna held up a hand. There was a long moment of silence before Donna said, "It only happened once… And it was just a kiss… And Eric had nothing to do with it, did he? … And he couldn't have betrayed you by telling me after all you'd just been through, could he? No, of course not… Plus, you weren't in your right mind. You were going through so much, with your stepdad and your new town and your constant string of boyfriends… And, you didn't even mean it. You just got caught up in a moment. Right? Of course." Chris was about to interject and further apologize to Donna—but she realized that Donna wasn't talking to her. She was trying to convince herself. So, Chris remained silent as Donna went on, "You just made a mistake. It wasn't even a _mutual_ mistake. It was only from you, not him. And it was just your hormones. Right?" Her eyes flashed up to Chris, waiting for an answer.

"Right. We— _I _just got caught up in a moment. Like that time that Hyde kissed you on the ski trip, even though he knew about you and Eric."

"You… you know about that?" Donna asked uncertainly. Obviously, it was a warped version of the truth—true, Hyde had gotten caught up in a moment, but Chris seemingly had no idea of how Hyde had liked her for months before that.

"Hyde told me," Chris assured her. "And I know that it's not the same thing, or even remotely similar circumstances, but my point is that both kisses were equally meaningless and stupid."

"What _hasn't _Hyde told you?" Donna demanded incredulously. She wasn't used to the idea of Hyde being even _partially_ honest to a girl. He usually just said whatever he had to in order to get her in the sack. He didn't usually show a sense of _caring._

"I don't know," Chris decided with a grin, making a feeble attempt at humor. "He hasn't told me yet."

Donna forced out a small laugh, deciding not to call her new roommate out on the failed attempt at a joke because she was currently a cripple. Otherwise, she would've rubbed it in her face. She considered that for a moment before deciding to inquire, "So, uh… what's the deal with you and Hyde, anyway?"[

"What do you mean?"

"Well… back when you first moved here, you seemed to hit it off pretty well. If I recall, when we met, he was on top of you." Donna grinned when she saw Chris blush and continued, "You seemed like you were best friend after that; you even spent the night at his place! I mean, _nobody _ever visits Hyde's place. Not even him. But ever since then, you've just… you've seemed like you hate each other. What happened? And when did you guys start talking again?"

Chris bit her lip to refrain from spilling all of the details about her amazing first kiss with Hyde. It had been everything she'd dreamed of, and more— despite the fact that she had a million different medical tubes attached to her. _That _had never really been a part of her plan. _Play it cool, Chris. Play it cool. _Instead of gushing, she stated a calm "Well, when you're confined to a hospital room, you have limited options" and let out a small smile. She didn't know why, but she wanted to keep the magic to herself. _Or, at least, what magic there was before the traitor backstabbed you, _Chris reminded herself.

Donna sighed and shook her head, averting her gaze to the floor before glancing back up at Chris. "I feel bad for him."

"Because of his parents?" she asked in confusion. She still didn't know much about any of that; just that they had both skipped out on him, but she couldn't come up with anything else that would result in Donna's pity.

"No. Because he likes you a lot more than you like him…"

Chris's eyes flashed at that. _Impossible. _No human was capable of feeling anything even _near _the extent of what she felt (and tried to cover up feeling) for Hyde. "What makes you say that?"

Donna grinned as she responded, "Hyde told me."

Chris knew that it was meant to be a joke, but Donna's words still caused a frown to etch lines on her face. "For someone who doesn't give a shit about anything regarding or pertaining to teenage drama, he sure is one with the gossip…"

"Why would he spread gossip about _himself?_" Donna pointed out.

"It's about the both of us, not just him. That's awfully big of him to assume… When'd he say that?"

"Today at school," Donna admitted after a brief moment of hesitation. If Chris could trust her enough to tell her about her stint with Eric, she could spare a bit of information about Hyde. "He was kind of pissed that you couldn't come back to school yet—you're the only thing he likes about going, you know— and he was ranting about it. So I was like, '_What, do you like her or something?'_ and he was all, _'More than the bitch likes me.' _So I was just, like… Oh."

Chris scrunched up her nose in disgust. "Donna… you sounded exactly like Jackie there for a second."

Donna frowned. "Oh, shit… Did I? Sorry."

Chris let out a genuine laugh and placed a hand on Donna's knee. "Donna… I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."

Her new roommate grinned and responded happily, "Till death do us part."

* * *

_**A/N: And if you guys are wondering what Chris looks like, here's a link to a girl similar to what I imagine Chris to be like… **_

_**http:/ .blogspot. com/ _NtWztQ4wgkA/TT-37n5CdzI/ AAAAAAAAAI0/ u9hvqgJdQ7s/ s1600/ blonde-emo-hairstyles. jpg**_

_**Just delete the spaces, and imagine her with lighter make-up and without the black hair and lip ring, and... voila! It's Chris(:**_

_**~Also, I know my stories are heavy on dialogue… sorry about that. I just feel that the connections between characters are the most important things, and I feel that dialogue is the best way to show that... so I tend to stress it. My apologies, but if you don't like it... I don't think it's something I can control(:**_


	12. Chapter 12

_**Author's Note: Heyy guys! I hope you guys liked my last chapter… Not that I would know. Being as there's only one review on it so far. (Thank you, Marla's Lost!) I appreciate everybody who reads this so much, and people who review even more… You have no idea how much you guys all mean to me(: But anyways, I have huge writer's block right now so I'm sorry if this chapter comes out kind of… well, like crap. I was trying to force my way through it, which made it very tedious work to write this. Tell me what you think? (:**_

* * *

Audible gasps were heard from the moment Chris stepped onto the school's campus. She glanced around awkwardly as everybody who noticed her started staring, pointing, and making sure that everybody _else _saw her as well. She couldn't help but get kind of pissed off at that—had they never seen broken bones before?

Her face brightened when she finally found a familiar face in the sea of people. She made her way over to Hyde and tossed her backpack into his arms. "I do believe that your backstabbing ways entitle me to enslave you," she greeted him cheerfully— her way of saying '_let's put the past behind us' _without actually having to admit that she had forgiven him.

He cocked an eyebrow, dumped the bag on the floor, and responded, "Just because you're a cripple doesn't mean I have to be nice to you. Hell, I'll probably kick your crutches out from under you a few times."

"You get to cut three minutes off of the beginning and end of every class if you concede," she informed him.

"I'm a dirty, lying traitor," Hyde agreed as he picked up her bookbag from the ground again. "Where to first?"

She gestured to the clump of about a hundred kids all lounging around in front of them and said, "Well, _first _you go into the school."

"I don't think we can cut through that mob," he told her as he eyed them all.

"You aren't even a cripple!" she scoffed. With her good hand, she whipped his sunglasses off his face and put them on her own. She rolled her eyes at Hyde's bemused expression and grabbed his wrist. She dragged her behind him through the mob that parted like the Red Sea for her. She wasn't going to stop for them, and they all moved within seconds of impact. However, her tirade ceased at the bottom of the stairs. She gazed up at them nervously, not sure if she could make it up them with her leg brace.

She let out a squeal as she was swept off her feet by Jake Bradley, the high school's varsity quarterback. He carried her graciously up the steps before carefully setting her back on the ground. Chris laughed and exclaimed, "Thanks!" before placing an appreciative kiss on his cheek. She watched him mumble bashfully and walk away before turning her attention to Hyde, who still resided at the bottom of the steps. She flashed him a grin and demanded, "Are you coming, or what… _Stevie?_"

Hyde growled at her menacingly and bounded up the steps. He grabbed her from behind and rocked her off her feet playfully but carefully, so that he wouldn't hurt her. She let out a shriek when he grabbed her but then began to crack up laughing. He placed her back to the position she'd been in, with both feet planted firmly on the ground. He forced himself to ignore how Zen she looked with his glasses on, despite her large smile. The shades covered her almost-healed black eyes, and took up far more of her face than they did Hyde's. He hated to admit it, but she looked gorgeous with them. Not pretty, not hot. Not even beautiful. _Gorgeous. _Stunning. He doubted there was anything she couldn't pull off.

He forced himself to disregard all thoughts of her appearances as he struggled against the urge to kiss her. She was so close; only a few inches away… He shook his head, smiled a bit, and took his shades back from Chris. "They look better on me," he informed her dishonestly.

"Asshole," she retorted. "Anyways—I have history first period. Take me to my locker first."

"Damn. When did you get so demanding?"

"Right around when you agreed to be my slave," she responded dismissively as she made her way to her locker. Hyde trailed behind her and put all of her books in her locker for her before taking the ones she needed out and holding them in his hand by his side.

"When I agreed I was thinking of it as more of a sex slave type deal," he informed her as they made their way down the hall.

"Nah. Our arrangement pretty much means that you're my bitch." She paused before adding, "But, hey, maybe if you're really good we can do both."

"Really?" he asked, cocking his left eyebrow.

"We'll see." She turned her head to face him and flashed him a grin. "But in case you haven't noticed, I'm a little bit of a tease."

"Yeah, I've noticed," he mumbled softly. All he could think about was how much he wanted to kiss her. He wanted to walk down the hallway, make a right, go into the janitor's closet, drag her in with him, shut the door, and—

"Steven?" she asked, peering at his face worriedly.

"Hmm?" he asked, bringing himself out of his little fantasy. He looked around and noticed that they'd stopped in front of her classroom.

"I just wanted to say thanks for doing this," she said earnestly. "I really appreciate it."

"I just want to get out of each class for six extra minutes," he lied. He was, in reality, doing it to make up for recording their conversation. The fact that he got to spend more time with her didn't hurt, either. Chris didn't pick up on his actual intentions, though. However, she knew he was lying—if he _really _wanted to get out of class, he would just walk out like whenever he felt like it, as he did on occasion.

"Screw that! I mean, either way. I…" Her sentence trailed off as she leaned in. Right before their lips met, she pulled back, grabbed the sunglasses off of his face, and blurted out a loud "HAH!" before ducking into her history class.

Hyde scowled at himself. He'd just let a _chick _totally burn him. But when he looked up and saw Chris wave at him from inside the classroom, he felt that it was all worth it.

_Fuck, _he decided angrily. _What the hell is wrong with me?_

* * *

Jackie sat around all her cheerleader friends, a huge smirk on her face. They were all gossiping about Chris, and she had remained silent while she figured out what she could say. Her eyes lit up when an idea struck her. _She'd finally found something that could put the new bitch back in her place. _She cleared her throat before announcing, "I'll bet she got hurt while she was practicing."

All chatter of Chris falling off of a cliff or getting beaten up by Hyde stopped immediately as the squad turned to their smallest member. "What do you mean?" Pam Macy finally asked.

"Well, _I _heard that she was practicing in her backyard because she wanted to try out for cheerleading, but she couldn't do _anything _and almost killed herself trying!" Jackie exclaimed. All of what she said was complete bull, but it made her so happy to say it. Not only did this story make it so that Chris would gain no sympathy, but it would make it seem like Chris couldn't do what Jackie and her friend did on a daily basis. She couldn't wait for this rumor to catch on.

"What was she doing?" the only redhead on the team asked.

"I don't know… I've heard two different stories," Jackie said. She was unsure of which version would be the most incriminating, but she figured both would catch on pretty quickly. When the rest of the girls remained silent in anticipation, Jackie went on, "Alright. The first story was that she was trying to do a pyramid, and she was the top, but they couldn't support her weight and she _fell._" Jackie waited until the gasping was done to finish, "And the second story was that she was the flyer, but when the team she was practicing with threw her into the air they _purposely _didn't catch her! They just let her drop!"

There was another round of gasps before a small Asian girl quivered, "Why would they do that?"

"Because nobody likes her, that's why," Jackie snapped without thinking. She saved herself by adding an improvised, "I mean, I heard she was always such a bitch to the people she was with. She was fooling around with _all five of the girls' boyfriends!_"

"What a _whore!_" Pam exclaimed.

"She's such a bitch!" the redhead shouted in agreement.

"I've been trying to tell you guys since the beginning of the year," Jackie said with a sigh.

"I'm so sorry we didn't believe you! You were _so _right about her!"

Jackie grinned smugly as she crossed her arms over her chest. She couldn't wait for this to all play out so that she could watch the queen get knocked off her throne.

_You've had a long run, _Jackie thought, _but nobody beats Jacqueline Burkhart._

* * *

Chris was staring at the floor absentmindedly in the cafeteria with Hyde—they were almost always the first ones there, being as they either left the class they had right before it early or just didn't go to it. Chris scowled when she remembered that their friends would be another five minutes. She didn't like sitting with Hyde and not talking to him, so she looked up at him and said, "So…"

"I hear that he's being tried next Friday," Hyde muttered as he took a forkful of food from Chris's plate. "Domino, I mean."

"Yeah. They'll probably push it back, though—that's what they always do."

Hyde nodded as he chewed Chris's meat-like substance with a scowl. "What the _hell _is that?"

"Cafeteria food," she responded smugly, leaning back on her chair. "That'll teach you to steal my food!"

"Gross! Chris, that's friggen _nasty!_ Are you saying my _mom _made this?"

"No, I said—" Realization dawned on Chris and she exclaimed, "Your mom is _Gross Edna?_"

"No," Hyde grumbled.

"Wait, so… the cafeteria lady who left and comes back for, like, a day every three months… isthe bitch who… who did… and hit… and let you get… Oh _hell _no!" Chris stood up angrily.

"Chris? What're you—" He jumped to his feet and grabbed Chris's forearms. "Zen, man. Just calm down. It's okay. It's all in the past. Just… sit."

She was still wearing his sunglasses, so he couldn't see the fiery passion in her eyes—but, quite frankly, he was pretty sure he wouldn't want to. It would scare the shit out of him to see that much rage wrapped up in one person. She looked at him and clenched her jaw. "Steven fucking Hyde. You can't honestly expect me not to go over there and _punch her lights out. _I want to do to her _everything _that she and she and her boyfriends ever did to you, times ten. I want to… I want to…"

"You want to _rape _her?" Hyde asked incredulously. "Calm down. Chris. You're freaking me out, alright? Calm down. For me."

She stared at him with angry sparks flying out of her eyes. She forced herself to at least _appear _calm (Hyde's shades helped with that) and forced a smile to play on her lips. "Sorry. I'm sorry, Hyde. It's just… you didn't deserve any of that, y'know? And I can't help but think that maybe if your parents and 'uncles' weren't such assholes, maybe you would…"

"Not be as fucked up as I am? Not be a stoner? Not be a dumbass? Not have gone to jail twice so far? Actually have a chance at succeeding?" he offered helpfully.

"I was gonna say be happy," she responded softly. He stared into her eyes as well as he could under the circumstances and leaned in to kiss her.

"STEVEN HYDE!" Edna's voice yelled over from the kitchen. "COME IN HERE AND DO SOMETHING USEFUL FOR ONCE!"

"I WOULD, BUT I CAN'T BE WITHIN THREE FEET OF YOU WITHOUT GETTING SOME KIND OF DISEASE!" he screamed back angrily. His mom rarely bothered him here, and he knew she'd only done it to prevent the kiss. His mom hated for him to have anything that made him happy. When he felt the waves of anger radiating off of Chris, he pulled her close to him. His hands were on her waist both to comfort and restrain her. "Chris…"

She wrapped her non-broken arm around him and pressed the side of her face into his chest. "I know. I'm sorry. I'm acting like an idiot. It's just that I… _Ugh!_ It's like… what you feel towards Domino. Except multiplied by ten."

"What I feel towards Domino times ten would be like the Holocaust times three," Hyde said gravely.

"Hyde…" Chris murmured. She looked up at his face and admitted, "My cast makes this really uncomfortable."

He sighed, shook his head, and pulled away from her. He grabbed his glasses from her face and sat in his chair before looking at Chris across the lunch table. "I don't let people hug me," he informed her. "I _especially _don't hug people. Ever. I don't hug."

"You just did," she pointed out as she took her seat at the very end of the lunch table, right across from him.

"I know. You tend to do that to me."

"Do what?" she asked quizzically.

"Make me do stupid things that I hate doing. Or that make me look lame. Or things that make me seem like I care about something other than myself and my drugs." He looked at her and added, "Like letting you steal my sunglasses and actually keep them. And taking all your crap even though you're not putting out and we aren't dating."

"Wow, Hyde. Are you saying that you act like an actual human being around me?" she asked in mock surprise.

"I hate that about you," he grumbled solemnly.

She laughed and lifted her eyes from his face as the mindless chatter of teenagers filled the air and kids finally began to file into the cafeteria. "Took them long enough," she scoffed.

Hyde nodded. "None of _them _have probably even dreamed of leaving class before the bell."

"Oh, heavens no!" Chris exclaimed with mock prudeness. "That might hurt their chances at getting a scholarship to a good school! Wouldn't want to hurt their precious future."

"I know. They have to get good grades so they can go to a good school and get a good job and support a family—"

Hyde words were cut off by the cheerleaders walking by their table. With each girl in a too-short skirt and too-tight top came a bitchy remark aimed at Chris.

"Bitch."

"Slut."

"Whore."

"You deserve exactly what you got."

"Just go home. Nobody likes you."

"Dumbass."

Jackie, the last of the girls, just scampered by with a loud _"Hah!" _at Chris, which actually seemed to hurt the most out of all the comments but the fourth one.

"What the _hell _was that all about?" Chris demanded angrily.

"They all have poles up their asses," Hyde informed her, the closest he could get to comforting someone.

Kelso slid into the seat next to Hyde and announced, "Damn. Look at the cheerleaders go! I can't believe I missed the opportunity to grab one…"

Chris scowled, leaned forward, and angrily snatched the aviators off of Hyde's face. She placed them over her eyes and informed him, "I need these more than you do right now."

"Whatever, man," Hyde responded nonchalantly.

It was almost amazing how much was said between the two in that short exchange.

* * *

_**A/N: This chapter was cut short, so I apologize for that. I had to cut it off because next chapter is an overview of Domino's trial, with little bits and snippets from each witness. In addition, Hyde's background is, as previously mention, from the FanFic **_**I Screamed, No One Hears**_** Me by letmefallasleep. In addition, I seem to be getting in the habit of dropping f-bombs all over my writing. And, uh… review? :D**_


	13. Chapter 13

_**Author's Note: Alright, don't hate me you guys (please?), but I'm not doing a whole big trial chapter. I was going to, but it just wouldn't come to me. I completely hated it, no matter what I did to change it. It was really depressing, actually): Oh well. Screw it. I'm still making this chapter about the trial, but it isn't going to have any of the testimonies and such. So, sorry for everyone who's disappointed but you're going to have to deal with it unless you wanna write one yourself(: **_

_**This is gonna start off with a short conversation before the trial, then the ruling of the trial (I have to at least include that), and then go to the events that follow after the ruling is announced. Although I'm lazy and refuse to write an actual, full-on trial, I feel that that ruling is important, so I won't deprive you of that. :D**_

* * *

Chris jumped when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She whirled around to face her attacker and instead let out a shaky breath when she saw it was Hyde. She flung herself into his arms, knowing that while she was in them she was safe from everything the world could possibly throw at her.

He didn't wrap his arms around her, but instead feebly patted her back twice and dropped his arms to his sides. He allowed himself to be hugged until she finally pulled herself away from him. He looked into her watery eyes and greeted, "Hi?"

"Sorry," she apologized lightly. "It's just… I'm so worked up over the trial, y'know? I mean, it's like… I'll have to see him, and every time I look at him all I can see is his hands around my neck and… I don't know if I can handle it. Maybe I should just—"

"Zen," he reminded her coolly.

"I'm not very good at that," _she _reminded _him, _a small smile forcing the sides of her lips to rise. "Listen, before we have to go in there…" Her voice trailed off, searching for words she could not find.

"I brought you something," he informed her when she lost her courage to speak. When he caught the expression on her face that clearly told him to continue, he pulled his shades off from where they rested on the collar of his shirt. He put them on her face, and her hand lifted to touch them carefully.

"Are you giving these to me?" she asked softly.

"You're gonna need them for the trial more than I do," was his response.

"Hyde…" Her sentence trailed off, and he tried to read the expression in her eyes so that he could respond accordingly. _Maybe I gave them to her a little too soon, _he decided when his shades prevented him from doing so. He settled for a cocked eyebrow, which was the most versatile answer he had— however, he knew she could read every emotion in his eyes. All of the anger, fear, confusion, lust… It was all written inside of the pools of blue that were permanently installed on his face, and he hated it. Moments like these were _exactly _why he'd bought the sunglasses in the first place.

She let out grin and held back a laugh when she saw the uncertainty at her intentions and the anger at his face's nakedness reflecting in his eyes. "Not too fun on the short end of the stick, huh?"

"Get bent," he responded with a scowl, and reached out to grab the frames from her face. She ducked under his arm and got behind him before tapping his shoulder. He whirled around to face her, wearing a scowl that didn't meet his eyes. When she saw his expression she finally allowed herself to laugh, pressing her lips to his as she did so.

His mind short-circuited when their mouths met, but the kiss was only a quick peck and she pulled away almost immediately. He saw her blushing. How she was feeling was completely obvious, even with her eyes being covered—and that reaction only heightened the high that Hyde got from her kiss. He swiftly grabbed her wrist and pulled her back towards him, but by then she'd regained control of herself. She pressed her finger to his lips to interrupt their would-be kiss, then cocked her head to the side. She scrutinized his face before asking whimsically, "Why would you kiss me if you want me to get bent?"

A smirk overrode his features, and perversion lit up his eyes. He mocked her head-tilt and responded, "Because I didn't know you liked it that way."

Her jaw dropped as she stared at him in shock and smacked his arm as almost an instinct. "Freak!" She paused before a grin lit her face and she added, "Although, I _am _proud of you for finally coming out of the closet and admitting that you like it up the—"

A dark storm clouded Hyde's features, and Chris realized who she was talking to as well as all of the painful memories it would bring up for said person. "Oh, shit. Shit, shit, shit. Hyde…"

He shook his head and whipped his sunglasses from her face and onto his before shrugging. "No big deal. I brought it up."

"But I took it too far, and…" She bit her lip regretfully and pointed to his glasses. "Now _you _need them more."

He gazed into her eyes, glad he could see them again. He loved being able to tell every thought going through her head; if it weren't for her eyes she'd probably be the most deceitful person he knew. "Chris. Calm down, alright? It's no big deal. Honestly."

"I just… I hate that you had to… and now I brought it up and I know you're hurt and… I don't like doing this to you."

"I'm fine," he grumbled curtly. He hated pity. He knew that there was a very fine line between that and concern, but he always had trouble finding it and found the two interchangeable.

"Then take off the shades."

He fingered the rims of his glasses for a moment, but was saved by Chris's attorney running up. "Christina, we're needed in the court room."

She nodded, and Hyde watched new fear flood into her eyes— however, her eyes never left his face. "Okay," she said softly.

"Go get 'em," Hyde encouraged her, a small smile being all he could manage at the moment. "Put that bitch in jail."

* * *

"Has the jury reached a verdict?"

A man in his late thirties with owl-rimmed glasses and a round face stood, scanning the people who filled the courtroom. He saw the friends of the plaintiff and almost smiled, but then his face returned to the judge and he began to speak. "The jury has ruled that the defendant, Paul Ramirez, is… guilty on all accounts."

Domino let out a small snarl before he stood and leaped over the table that he and his lawyer were sitting at. He had every intention to end Chris once and for all, right then and there. A shuddered gasp went through the crowd as well as some very angry shouts and a scream from Chris, but Domino didn't care. He didn't care that anybody saw, didn't care that the judge was screaming for order in the court, didn't care that there was men grabbing his arms and holding him back. He didn't even care when he got an extremely hard blow to the side from the bailiff that caused him to collapse. He was seeing red and his world was in slow-motion, but he only cared about one thing.

He was going to get out of jail. And the moment he did, he was going to _kill her._

* * *

_**A/N: That was a relatively short chapter, so sorry about that. I was going to put in some more scenes after the trial, but I decided that this was as good a place as any to wrap my comeback chapter up. I hope you enjoyed it and sorry for the wait! :D**_


	14. Chapter 14

_**Author's Note: I can't recall whether or not I ever gave Chris a middle name… so I'm going to give her a new one! If any of you guys remember if she had one and what it was, please let me know so I can change it… thank you(:**_

_**In other news that actually pertains to the subjects within this chapter, most of it is about Hyde and Chris's relationship. Nothing all that eventful actually occurs… this was a filler chapter (I had to write one for before the end of school), so sorry if it seems forced. I promise to try to make the next update better! :D**_

* * *

Chris bit her lip as she nervously approached the school building with Donna. It was the beginning of June, a full month after Domino's trial, but she still had trouble being by herself. It was hard to believe that after over five years of constant running and hiding and screaming and crying, it was all over. She'd expected for it to be a relief to get rid of her abuser, and she swore to god that it was, but she _hadn't_ been expecting to still have all of the fear and apprehension that he had caused with her. She had thought that after he was locked up, she'd become normal, and yet she still flinched every time someone raised a hand. She still jumped every time somebody tapped her shoulder. After everything, she was still completely and utterly terrified of the man that she knew could never come back.

The two roommates walked into the school and headed towards Chris's locker. Chris's heart skipped a beat when she saw that Hyde was there, leaning against it. After a very brief and joy-filled moment, she felt her heart sink back into its proper place when she realized that he was there for Donna. _Always for Donna…_

"Donna," he greeted his best friend. He looked over at Chris, ignored all of the feelings (anger, guilt, betrayal, love, lust, joy, fear…) that overcame him, and simply gave her his stereotypical nod of recognition. He had to stop a smirk from spreading across his face when he saw how much that pissed her off.

"Steven," Chris said curtly. If he wanted to pretend that everything they had didn't exist, then she would be happy to oblige. She gestured to her locker, which he was leaning against, and inquired, "Can you move?"

"I'll move when I'm done here," he responded dismissively. He unintentionally spoke with a tone of bitterness in his voice, matching the amount of emotion that she'd let slip out. He turned his attention back to the redhead and informed her, "We're gonna have a party over at Kelso's tonight. You in?"

"Sure," Donna answered instantly. A smile forced the corners of her mouth upwards when she deciphered what he had _really _beenasking her. She had been friends with Hyde for long enough to know what his pride was preventing him from saying. "Chris and I will definitely be there."

"Cool," he said calmly, keeping his feelings in check this time. Despite his newfound control, his eyes still landed on Chris and lingered there for a few moments before he turned his head away and left the girls alone.

"Why'd you say I would go?" Chris demanded the moment Hyde was out of earshot. "He obviously doesn't want me there."

"_You _obviously don't know Hyde," Donna countered. She let out a sigh and shook her head sadly as she added dismally, "I don't understand what happened between you two. I mean, you guys were like _best friends. _And then you hated each other, and then you liked each other again. But after the trial… Well, I don't know. A week after that creep got put away you guys just kind of stopped talking. Did I miss something? Is there anything you aren't telling me?"

An angry scowl overrode Chris's features as she shook her head. She hadn't really talked to or about Hyde since they had argued at the school dance three weeks ago, and she wasn't exactly eager to begin acting out the latter. "I don't know, okay? We got into a fight about something stupid at the dance— the one I went to with Jake Bradley— and since then we've just kind of… drifted. I don't know. But obviously it doesn't matter, because he doesn't care enough to try to fix it. And if he doesn't care enough, then why should I?"

"When have you _ever _known Hyde to be the one to try and fix things? He's more of the kind of guy who sits back and watches things happen. He never makes the first move."

"Well, that's _stupid._"

"It's Hyde. What do you expect?" Donna looked over at a clock on the wall and said, "Listen, I have to go so that I'm not late to first period. We've _already_ missed homeroom…" She paused for a moment, and almost laughed when she realized what class Chris had. "But, uh, have fun with Hyde in science class! Try not to blow anything—including each other— up."

* * *

Chris looked up at the twig who was blocking her way to the lunchroom and cocked an eyebrow at him— a habit that she had picked up from all the time she used to spend with Hyde. "Eric, what are you doing?"

"I'm… uh…" He froze, his eyes darting around desperately before landing on a _Wet Paint _sign. "I'm just admiring the view! They repainted the walls, see? It's a graffiti-free hallway now!"

"That's the _lamest _excuse I've ever heard, Eric. You can do better." She placed her hand on her hip and demanded, "Can you _please _move now?"

He pressed his back closer against the door and shook his head adamantly. "No!"

"Eric…" she growled threateningly. She didn't know what this was about, but it was pissing her off.

"I have specific orders _not _to let you in," he informed her, hoping that it would deter her from wanting to come in.

"But I'm _hungry," _Chris whined pathetically. An idea struck her, and her narrowed eyes widened from a glare to a pleading gaze towards the Sci-Fi nerd. "Fine. I won't go in— but can you come with me to look for Jake? He's always willing to share his lunch with me."

"He's in the caf— I mean, yeah! Sure, I'll help you find him."

She raised an eyebrow, amused by the fact that he was such a horrible liar. However, the two of them did not share the same fatal flaw. She smiled and chirped out a happy "Thanks!" before walking down the hall. When she saw that Eric was on her heels, she waited until they were a few feet away from the door to turn around and burst into the cafeteria.

There was a large group of kids circled around a table, and they were all cheering one name or another. Chris shoved her way through the ring of kids and froze when she saw what they were all surrounding. She had kind of assumed that it would be a fight, but she hadn't expected Hyde to be in it.

_No wonder Eric didn't want me to come in here…_

Eric grabbed Chris's arm and began trying to pull her away, but Chris yanked her arm out of his grasp and watched Hyde and Jake (who was a guy in her history and math classes, the school's first-string quarterback, and her date to the end-of-the-year junior/senior formal) fight. Hyde was winning for the most part, but from the looks of Hyde's face he'd clearly received a few harsh blows himself. When she could no longer stand to hold in her outrage she demanded, _"Steven James Hyde III. What the hell are you doing?"_

Hyde looked up just quickly enough to catch a glimpse of the expression on Chris's face. Something about it told him not to push his luck and keep whaling on this kid, because soon enough she would have her slender arms wrapped around his waist, pulling him away from his latest victim with a disapproving glare. Come to think of it, that idea didn't sound so bad… _What the hell is wrong with me?_ He scowled, stood, and gave Jake one last shove with his foot before walking away from the fight. He shot a look at Chris before stopping in front of her and demanding, "What?"

"You heard me."

"Yeah, I did. However, I think it's pretty obvious what I was doing, _Christina Elizabeth Steele," _he responded with a cocked eyebrow, using her full name just like she had his. The difference was he used her full name to mock her. He was bemused, whereas she was outright pissed.

"Why don't you explain it to me, _Steven?_" she demanded harshly, pressing her lips closer together like she always did when she was angry. To be honest, all it did was make him fantasize about them and what they could do; what he'd already experienced and what he was hoping to experience. _Why the hell did everything she do have to be such a turn-on?_

He glanced around at the crowd, which had not yet dispersed, and clamped his jaw shut. "I don't have to answer to you," he responded simply before storming away. He knew that if he didn't, he would do something stupid like kiss her. And then, there would be hoots and hollers and "Awww!"s and a million other sounds that he Hyde didn't want to hear. If anybody had made a sound, he would've had to kill them— which would not only interrupt the kiss, but make a huge mess. He didn't have the time.

"I'm not done talking to you!" she shouted angrily. She stormed after him, shoving through doors. They weaved in between students and teachers and custodians and open doors, making their way through the school's corridors. Chris cleared her throat to make her presence even more obvious.

Hyde waited until he was sure there were no people nearby to bother acknowledging her existence. They were about twenty feet away from a door that led outside, coincidentally right next to Hyde's locker, when he whirled around to face her. "What the hell do you want from me?"

"I want to know why you and Jake were fighting," she commanded, and pointed an accusatory finger at him. "You don't even know each other!'

"Drop it," he growled menacingly. When she shook her head indignantly, refusing to let up on the subject, he gave her a dirty look and answered, "He called you a whore, okay? That stupid son of a bitch told everybody that you fucked him, and said you were nothing but a whore. So I kicked his pathetic little ass."

Chris froze, unaware of how to respond to that. It had been the _last _thing she was expecting to hear. _He cared. _He risked suspension— _Not such a big deal for him, _she reminded herself with a smile— just because some guy was spreading shit. After a moment of thought, she lifted her hand and gently touched her fingertip to the edge of his growing black eye. "You don't need to get hurt for me…"

"It isn't like I haven't had worse," he said simply, leaving it at that. He watched Chris try to analyze his expression. Luckily for him, an ever-swelling black eye worked just as well to hide his emotions as his shades did.

She paused only for a moment before deciding, "I think I might know how to fix this…"

When he cocked his eyebrow in response, she grabbed his hand and pulled him out the door to the school's parking lot. He reveled in the warmth of her hand. As he stared down at their intertwined fingers, he couldn't help but wonder if her idea was supposed to fix his black eye or their relationship.

* * *

Fez and Kelso walked into the Basement , coughing the moment the door opened. Kelso waved his hand in front of his face to clear the air of the smoke that his infiltrated his lungs and exclaimed, "_Damn, _guys!"

"How could you start without us, you whores?" Fez shouted in agreement.

Hyde glanced at Chris and inquired, "Chris… what are they even _talking _about…"

Chris, however, had other things on her mind. She was lying with her feet over the back of the couch and her head dangling where her feet usually rested. Her stomach was tied up into a belly shirt, and a fresh joint laid at the beginning of her ribcage. Her eyes widened as she said, "Whoa, guys… The world is upside-down… Is it possible? Or maybe… maybe this is the start of the apocalypse… Guys, will the bunnies survive if there's an apocalypse?"

"I will have whatever _she's _on!" Fez exclaimed happily, plopping down in his usual seat around the circle. Kelso swiftly joined him, making himself comfortable next to Chris.

"What are you _talking _about, man?" Hyde asked incredulously. "She's not _on _anything."

"I'm on a couch… Wait. This… this _is_ a couch, right?" Her eyes widened and she looked from side to side warily. She laughed when she looked to her right and saw a thin, almost-hairless shin. She hugged Kelso's leg to her chest and declared, "I hereby claim this to be my property."

Fez gestured to the space surrounding him and exclaimed, "There is more smoke here than there was the day that my village burnt down!"

"Hey, man, I didn't know your village burnt down," Kelso said compassionately.

"My village never burnt down," Fez told Kelso, giving him an incredulous look. "Why would you ever say such a thing?"

"But you just said…" He shook his head, the amount with which he cared already slimming down because of the smoke in the air. "Give me some," he demanded of Hyde.

"Some _what?_" Hyde questioned.

"Your stash, idiot!" Fez exclaimed impatiently.

"Guys… We don't do that," Chris informed them with a solemn expression. "It's illegal."

Kelso pointed to the joint resting on her exposed stomach and shouted, "LIES!"

Hyde's brow furrowed as he stared at Chris with an incredulous expression. "You _smoke?_"

She shook her head insistently, eyes wide with denial. "No way, man! Somebody framed me! I mean, I'm not even high or anyth— WAIT, GUYS. You never answered my question about the bunnies…"

* * *

_**Author's Note: I haven't had a circle in a while, so I decided to throw one in here(: I was going to write more (once again), but I didn't know what could follow that last scene. Boo): Anywaysss. Next chapter is going to be, like, the last day or two of the school year for the gang; maybe going into summer a little. I'm not sure… Anyways, let me know what you thought of this little filler here(:**_


	15. Chapter 15

_**Author's Note: This first scene takes place on the day before the day before the last day of school for the gang. On the day before the last day of school there's like a carnival, and then the next day is… well, the last day of school. We really don't go into that much. :P**_

_**In addition, the last scene is one of the few scenes in this Fic that was actually in the show. Yay! :D However, I don't know all the lines or the plot by heart, so I'm just giving it my own little spin. Sorry about that for everyone who doesn't like it, but I'm lazy. :P**_

* * *

Chris shook her head as she bent forward, clutched her stomach, and laughed uncontrollably at her curly-headed friend. He was giving her a look like he thought she might be on some serious drugs or something, and that look only made her laugh even harder. When the laughing didn't cease, Hyde merely shook his head and said incredulously, "Man, what are you even _talking _about?"

"Am I the only one who remembers _anything _around here?" she demanded, her chuckles slowly fading away. She placed her hand on her hips in mock defiance and added, "You talk about it almost every time we're in the Circle!"

"Chris, I highly doubt that a conversation on a whether a car that runs on freaking _water _exists or not would come up in _any _conversation, even if the conversation _was _between people who happened to be partaking in circular activities." He paused for a moment to give her statement a moment of thought before cocking his head to the side questioningly. "Hey; wouldn't a car that runs on water be a boat?"

She let out an exaggerated groan—she was _always _the only one to remember anything from the Circle, and it was starting to get on her nerves. She grabbed his shoulders and whirled him around so that he was no longer facing her and commanded, "Go to third period, dipshit." He rolled his eyes, cast one last look at her over his shoulder, and walked away to his math class.

She watched him walk away from her locker and sighed. She loved watching him walk away— not because she stared at his ass or anything perverted like he did when the roles were reversed, but just the way he walked. It was beautiful to her. Despite how mesmerized she was by his absolute perfection, every time he left her she felt a little pang in her heart. Their friendship was too on-and-off for her emotional capacity to handle, and every time he left her she couldn't help but wonder if this would be the time that he never came back.

Her view of Hyde was soon blocked by Pam Macy's little servant girl, Bianca. Bianca was insanely pretty, with straight but voluptuous auburn hair that fell to the middle of her waist and vibrant green eyes. If she tried (and every once in a long while she did), Chris felt that Bianca could be the prettiest girl in the school. However, her oversized glasses, refusal to wear girls' clothes, and obsession with being popular made her an underdog. Chris smiled sympathetically at the girl whom she was more than willing to take under her wing— that is, if Pam Macy would let her slutty little claws off of her— and greeted, "Hey, Bi."

Bianca chewed on her bottom lip, a surefire sign that she had a favor to ask of Chris. "H-hi, Christina…"

A slight frown settled on the older girl's features, and not just because Bianca had used her full name. Whereas Chris had given Bianca a nickname, Bianca refused to call Chris by hers. That wasn't what bothered Chris, though. She hated that Pam had trained Bianca to fear older, more popular people. It bothered her to every extent that somebody feared her. She knew enough about fear to know how horrid it could be. "What's up?" she asked calmly.

"I-I'm sorry… Am I interrupting something? I, uh, didn't mean to—"

"Bianca!" Chris exclaimed sharply. When the girl shrunk back fearfully, Chris smiled warmly and reassuringly at her. "We're friends, remember? Equals. I'm no better _or _worse than you." There was a momentary pause before Chris realized that Bianca wouldn't start talking and prompted, "I take it you wanted to ask me something…?"

"Y-yeah…" Bianca straightened up, finally becoming at least slightly more comfortable around Chris's intimidating perfection. "There's a fair tomorrow… To raise money for the unemployed here in Point Place. And Pam… Pam signed us both up to run a booth, but Pam bailed because her quote-unquote 'insanely hot' cousin is coming to visit. And I was supposed to do the finances and signs and she was supposed to just run the booth but… I'm too shy to do anything upstage… So… I was wondering…"

"Which booth is it?" Chris inquired.

"It's the kissing booth." Seeing the incoming refusal in Chris's eyes, Bianca swiftly added, "I'm sorry, but it's just such short notice, and you don't have a boyfriend so I figured you'd be able to do it, and… I'm so _stupid! _I'm sorry for wasting your time—"

Chris grabbed the girl's wrist as she turned to leave. "Wait, Bi. It's for the unemployed, right?" Her mind flew to Red, the man who had given Hyde a home as well as saved her from the man who had tortured her for years. When Bianca nodded, Chris bit her lip and confirmed hesitantly, "I guess… I guess I'll do it."

* * *

"What happened to _not _being a slut?" Hyde shouted at Chris. They were in the basement, and it was the night after the carnival. They'd listened to the totals over the announcements at school right before final bell rang, signifying the end of their hellish year. Chris's kissing booth had raised the most money out of all of them, which had made for a very silent car ride home. As soon as they were alone in the basement, though, Hyde blew up. Not to either of their knowlege, his voice— as well as Chris's— easily traveled through the vents up into the kitchen.

"What happened to not being an _asshole?_" Chris shouted back, crossing her arms over her chest defensively. She didn't understand what the hell his problem was.

"How could I _not _be an asshole, after what you did?"

"It's real easy, Hyde! You _start _by not yelling at me for no reason!" She glared at him, and a stony silence rested between the two. After a few moments Chris dropped her angry expression and let out a soft sigh. "Listen. I'm sorry, alright? I just couldn't let the opportunity to help hundreds of people— _including Red— _pass me by."

"And I'm _sure _you weren't looking forward to making out with eighty-two dollars' worth of guys," Hyde retorted drily. His sarcastic remark was accompanied by a scowl that Chris was almost hesitant to return. _Almost._

"He shouldn't yell at her like that," Red grumbled from behind his newspaper at the kitchen table. He looked down at the floor and stomped his foot against it, as if any amount of noise he made would actually stop the teenagers from going at it.

_"No, _actually, I _wasn't!_ And y'know what? If it was any other girl in Point Place, you wouldn't give a shit! So why the _hell _are you making such a big freakin' deal out of this?"

"And they're at it again," Kitty sighed as she sat across from her husband, sipping a margarita.

"Because! Every other girl in Point Place isn't my _girlfriend!_"

Normally, Chris would've grinned and gone speechless at being called his girlfriend. But right now she was pissed, so it had a completely different effect. "Since when am I your girlfriend? When was I _ever _your freaking girlfriend?" When he did nothing but glare at her, taken aback by her negative response, she shook her head and spat disgustedly, "I'm so sick of your bipolarity."

"What's—" Kelso began to ask as he strolled into the kitchen cheerfully. All sixty bajillion of his siblings were home, so he was looking for a way out of being stuck with them (not that he didn't spend all of his time at the Formans', anyway).

_"Shhh!_" Kitty shushed him immediately, and gestured to the vent from which the argument was being carried.

"_You're _sick of _me?_" Hyde shouted.

Before he could continue, Chris cut him off by screaming, "_Actually, _yeah, I _am!_"

"At least _I'm _not getting with all of _your _friends!"

"I did _not _get with all of your friends!"

"All but _Kelso!_"

She looked at him; crossed her arms over her chest. She cocked her head to the side, smirked, and said, "Better go change that then, huh?" before storming out of the basement.

Kelso heard the basement door slam shut and smiled. "Well, that would be my cue to—" he heard pounding footsteps and the stairs and dropped his triumphant smirk. He ran to the sliding door and tried to yank it open to no avail. "Oh, crap. Open, open, OPEN!"

"Michael, you—"

Hyde walked into the kitchen and stopped when he saw Kelso. In an instant he was upon his best friend, tackling him to the ground and punching him blindly.

"Steven—" Kitty began to scold.

"Let it go, Kitty," Red sighed. He lowered his magazine a little and watched Hyde deck Kelso.

"What the hell, man?" Kelso whined. Hyde got up and helped him to his feet.

"You were there," Hyde answered simply.

"Only 'cause the damn door wouldn't open… I was on my way to see Chris, and—"

The scowl returned to Hyde's face as he punched Kelso's shoulder and stalked over to his room.

* * *

Chris sighed as she stood outside the Hub. She was leaning against the wall outside, smoking a cigarette. Almost immediately after she'd stomped out the butt with her heel, Kelso came storming out. He hopped in his van angrily, and after a brief conversation, Donna joined him in the front seat. Chris approached the van and inquired, "Where are you going?"

"Jackie is trying to get me to marry her. _Marry her! _I can't be with just one chick, damnit!" Kelso exclaimed angrily.

"I'm going to see my mom," Donna answered at the same time.

"You're going to California?" Chris asked, her heart skipping a beat. _Please please please please…, _Chris begged they both nodded affirmatively, Chris paused only for a moment before asking, "Mind if I come?"

"Of course not," Donna assured her friend.

"Only if I get some," Kelso corrected the redhead instantly. He wasn't going to piss of Hyde and ensure his own death for nothing.

Chris paused, pretending to consider the offer. "We'll see," she decided. When she saw a pout form on Kelso's face, she added with a small smile, "I promise that you'll have a higher chance of scoring than anybody else in California. Alright?"

His frown turned into his goofy smile almost immediately as he said, "Alright, get in."

Chris's face morphed into a matching gleeful expression as she got in the van, sitting between Kelso and Donna. She looked up at each of their faces and said genuinely, "Thanks, you guys."

"I'm only doing it so we can do it," Kelso informed her seriously. "Really. You'd better put out."

"We would never exclude you," Donna assured her contradictingly, then smacked Kelso's arm.

"_Damn,_ Donna!" He rubbed his arm where she'd smacked it and frowned again. He began driving out of the parking lot, and as he did so he couldn't help but mutter, "Why… Why you always gotta hurt me?"

* * *

_**Author's Note: Alright; another short chapter. I'm running out of excuses! ): But I feel like I've been doing pretty well about updating frequently, so the length isn't that much of an issue. At least; that's how **_**I **_**view it. Not gonna lie though, I'm kind of down about the lack of response lately (for all my reviewers, thank you **_**so **_**much; you don't know how much it means to me!)… Oh well. I'm as eager as I hope you guys are to find out what happens (no, I don't have anything planned out yet), so there's no chance in hell I'm dropping this story. :D**_

_**Soo, anyways… review please? (:**_


	16. Chapter 16

_**Author's Note: This chapter is just a summary of Donna, Kelso, and Chris's first day in California. It's a really short chapter because the next scene is subject to change, depending on you guys' input. (Read the ending Author's Note to see what I'm talking about.)**_

_**Read and Review? PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE. I need it here more than ever…**_

* * *

"I'm a lesbian, and this is my big brother who will readily kick your ass if you even think about coming near me," Chris informed the man who had just opened his mouth to hit on her. She gestured to Kelso, who was flexing his muscles, and added a cheerful, "Buh-bye."

As soon as he was out of their way and the trio had begun walking again, Donna exclaimed, "That's the _fourth _guy to hit on you! And we haven't even made it to the beach yet!"

Chris shrugged nonchalantly. "Californian guys are whores. They go for whatever girl looks the easiest." She paused before a grin broke out on her face and she added, "But there's more than enough beer and pot to go around, so we'll have fun."

Kelso completely tuned out what Chris was saying so that he could turn and whistle at some girls in skimpy bathing suits.

"Sounds like Point Place with a beach," Donna told Chris, only half-joking.

"I can see the beach!" Kelso exclaimed happily. He waited until their feet had settled on the sand before shouting, _"GIRLS, MICHAEL KELSO IS HERE!"_ When an unattractive forty-year-old woman looked up at him and smiled a holey smile, Kelso wrinkled his nose and demanded, "Not for you, uggo."

Chris let out a laugh at the pedophile's expense and shaded her eyes with her hand. She looked out at the ocean and gazed around happily. She was home. "I missed it here," she said happily.

"It seems like a great place to—" Donna began to agree, but was cut off by Chris gasping. She frowned at her friend and inquired, "What is it?"

Chris wordlessly sprinted away from her two friends and jumped on the back of a guy who was facing away from her. "_Ashton!" _she screamed gleefully as they fell to the ground.

"What the _fu—" _He stared at her, not believing his eyes. "Chris?" he asked dubiously. "Holy _shit!_"

Chris nodded in agreement and hugged him tightly. "I missed you!"

He hugged her back for about half a second before remembering that he was the cool one and draining any trace of emotion from his face. "How's wherever you ran off to?"

"Wisconsin," she corrected him, even though she _knew _he knew where she lived. "And it's alright. How's California been without me?"

"Different," he admitted. "Howsabout your parents? Mom's fuck buddy?"

Chris shrugged. "No clue where dad is, as usual. He's still as much of a stoner as he was when he left. Mom's still whoring around. She's stolen a few boyfriends from me, but no big deal. And her… uh, _partner, _is in jail now."

"Cool," Ashton lied. He looked over at Donna and Kelso and nodded in their direction. "Who's the dillhole with the hottie?"

"The _dillhole _is Kelso," she responded, a smirk tugging at her lips.

"You with 'im?" he inquired.

"Single as ever," she responded with a slight frown. _You will not think of Hyde right now, _she scolded herself.

"The hottie with 'im?"

"No… but she just went through a really tough break-up, so—"

"Cool." Ashton ran his fingers through his silky black hair before getting up and walking over to Donna. He began talking to her, completely leaving Kelso out of the conversation. Kelso took a step closer to the two of them so that he would be included, but Ashton nonchalantly shoved him down with one hand and continued talking to Donna.

Kelso got up, rubbing his arm where he'd been pushed, and sauntered over to Chris like a wounded puppy. He frowned down at her and whined, "Your tall, dark, not-as-handsome-as-me boyfriend is mean."

"My tall, dark, not-as-handsome-as-you boyfriend isn't my boyfriend," she responded. "In case you haven't notice, he's currently hitting on Donna."

"Oh… well, in that case… Can I get a kiss to make it better?"

Chris laughed at his antics and responded, "Nice try, kiddo. But no." She began to pull off her oversized T-shirt, but it got caught on the hooks of her bathing suit. She stood and turned her back to Kelso before inquiring, "Kelso, can you help me here?"

He nodded eagerly at the opportunity to touch a girl and pulled the shirt off over her head, undoing the complicated tangle of strings and hooks that clasped the top together by accident as he did so. Viewing it as a grace of god he told her with a grin, "Alright, you're good."

She didn't even have to check— she could tell from his tone of voice what had happened. She sighed and shook her head in dismay at his childish actions. She looked down to make sure that her top was in place before informing him, "Kelso, I know that the back came undone. And unless you want every guy on the beach _except for you _to see my boobs, I suggest that you fix it."

"I just wanted to see a little bit of boobs!" he grumbled under his breath. He continued whining and groaning and bitching and moaning about how innocent his intentions had been and how she was being mean for not putting out the entire time he fixed her top. It wasn't until she turned around that he shut up. "DAMN, Chris!" he exclaimed appreciatively as he looked her over. "That is the littlest bikini _ever!_"

Chris rolled her eyes at him and responded with a simple, "I try." She got up and walked over to the water before turning and flashing him an over-the-shoulder grin. "You coming or what?"

* * *

_**A/N: Yes, I realize that this was a disgustingly short chapter. I apologize for that. However, I need to know what you guys think about the next scene, so I need to cut this off here. And I know I always **_**ask **_**for reviews, but this time I genuinely **_**need **_**them. I need your input on the question that will completely change the story line:**_

_**Should there be JackiexHyde? Or should I leave them as they were in the seasons before they started dating?**_

_**Thank you so much for your input, if you give it. If not… I'll be really upset and not know what to do. ): and if I don't know what to do, that means no update. And i hate to be one of those writers (the ones who uses threats), but I mean it. I honestly need your opinion.**_

_**Thank you so much...**_


	17. Chapter 17

_**Author's Note: Well… I received two responses to my desperate pleas, both in favor of having JackiexHyde in this story. To be honest, that was definitely the direction I was leaning in, too. But I also must admit: had they not responded, this chapter would not be here. And there's not much JackiexHyde in this one, but there will be soon. I promise! **_

_**So anyways, this chapter is brought to you by outsiders83 and TL22! (:**_

* * *

Hyde crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the TV. He and Eric had been having a 'deep' talk about Chris— meaning that Eric talked and Hyde said a few "yeah, man"s every now and then. While Eric had droned on about the importance of loving someone and not losing them like he'd lost Donna, Hyde was wishing for something— _anything— _to come and interrupt him. Soon after that thought had passed through his mind, Jackie waltzed into the basement and whined about how much she wanted Donna back to complain about. After about ten minutes of listening to them bitch and moan about their lives, Hyde turned to them and snapped, "Shut the _FUCK _up!"

His outburst caused them to fall silent. After a few seconds, they'd followed Hyde's example and fixated their gazes on the TV. They sat in a stony silence for about half an episode of _The Price Is Right. _Hyde decided to try his luck a second time and prayed for something, anything, to break the ice. He just wanted to go back to being the fun, obnoxious group that they'd been before Kelso had taken his kind-of girlfriend and Donna to California with him.

A minute or two later, Hyde's answer came in the form of Fez walking through the door. He glanced around at the morose group and grinned. "What is wrong, whores? Did Kelso steal your bitches?" He sat on the couch and slid up next to Jackie, draping his arm around her. "But _my _bitch would never leave me. Right, bitch?"

Jackie rolled her eyes and removed his arm from her body with a look of disgust on her face. "Fez, I don't even like you."

"You say that now, whore!" Fez exclaimed, his jovial expression not wavering at her rejection.

"I don't like Chris, man," Hyde informed him.

"And I totally blew it with Donna," Eric sighed.

Jackie looked between the guys and informed them, "Fez… You're queer. Hyde, you're in denial, and Eric… you're just plain stupid."

Eric gave her a cross look, but kept his mouth shut. Hyde, however, was not in the mood to deal with Jackie. He glared at her from behind his sunglasses and demanded, "What the _hell _are you bitching about now?"

"Well, Fez thinks he's going to do it one day, which is never gonna happen. Eric's was self-explanatory. He's a dumbass. And Hyde… you're head over heels for that whore."

"What makes you say that?" Eric inquired. He was intrigued by her opinion on Hyde's feelings, especially since he'd been getting the same vibes.

"I get around." She stood abruptly and started to make her way out the door. She stopped when she had opened the door to go out and turned back to face the guys. "Oh, and… Hyde? As much as I hate her _and _you, when you're miserable I have to hear Eric whine about it, so listen up. Don't… don't let this one go. She's a good catch, I guess, and it isn't like a dirty bum like _you _could ever get a girl of actual quality. She's the best you're getting, as crappy of a best option that is. Plus, she's desperately and completely in love with you. Don't give her the chance to come to her senses."

She walked out the door after that, and Hyde found himself unwillingly staring at her ass when she turned and shut the door. He shook himself out of his hormone-induced trance to find his friends staring at him. He cleared his throat uncomfortably, averted his eyes, and inquired, "Got any pop?"

Kitty was washing off dishes in the sink when she heard the phone ring. She looked over at her de facto son, who ignored it and went on eating the sandwich she had made him. She then casted a glance over at her husband, who didn't even glance up from his newspaper. She waited for three rings before announcing sarcastically, "Oh, no, let _me _get it!" She dried off her hands, threw the towel down onto the counter, and lifted the phone.

"Hello?" There was a pause before Kitty announced, "It's Chris!"

Hyde's head immediately lifted. "Chris is calling?" He turned on the chair to face Mrs. Forman, an involuntary smile lighting up his face. He felt it there after a moment and fought to reduce it, but a small smirk still remained on his lips.

"Yes!" she exclaimed happily. She quickly turned back to the phone and assured the caller, "Oh, no, not you, honey. Of course Steven isn't! …Uh-huh… Yes… Uh-huh… Alright, dear, I'll hand him the phone."

Hyde was just beginning to rise from his seat when Kitty lowered the phone and said, "Red, honey, it's for you." When she saw Hyde slowly sinking back into his chair, she frowned sadly at him. "I know. I'm sorry. I thought it would be for you, too."

"I don't care," he said with a scowl. He turned back around and bit viciously into his sandwich. He kept facing away and pretended that he wasn't listening to every word out of Red's mouth.

"I'm glad you're having fun… It's great that you get to see your friends… _Really? _Huh… What a dumbass… Kelso did _what _now? I swear, when he comes back here I'll welcome him with a foot up his ass! …Of course it's alright if you call every day… Yes… Of course… No way! …Steven? Oh, he's fine. Would you like to talk to him? …Alright… Okay…. Bye." Red put the phone back into the cradle mounted on the wall and informed Hyde, "You're a dumbass."

Hyde nodded and informed him, "I've been told."

* * *

_**A/N: I'm debating whether or not to have JackiexHyde after Chris returns, too. Should they start dating like they did in the show? Or should they break it off as soon as Chris gets back? **_**Or, **_**should Hyde just keep hooking up with Jackie and keep the kind of relationship that Chris and Hyde have had thus far?**_

_**Please review? This question is mad important too, because I need to know what the readers want.**_

_**Thank you so much!**_


	18. Chapter 18

_**Author's note: Damn it's been a while! Sorry about that. I've been suffering from major writer's block, and alongside other problems it made it nearly impossible for me to write anything. So here's my comeback chapter, but if problems persist I might have to leave this story alone for a little bit. No matter what though, I promise to come back! I won't leave you guys hanging(:**_

_**Also, I think I'm going to start re-writing the first few chapters of this story. I already did the first one, but I'm probably going to do the rest also, since I feel like from the beginning of the story to now there's a huge difference in quality.**_

* * *

Chris let out a soft sigh as she lay on the beach, soaking up some rays. As much as she loved tanning, she hated being alone more. The fact that she had no friends around her at the moment was kind of ruining the experience for her. Donna was busy with Ashton and vice versa, and Kelso had met some pretty blonde chick named Annette. Chris had originally been taking advantage of her eyesight to look at hot guys, but none of them seemed to appeal to her. She just didn't find them attractive. There was only one guy she wanted, and he wasn't here.

_He's single, _she thought happily. However, a frown quickly overtook her smile as she began wondering if that meant anything. Sure, he didn't have a girlfriend— but that didn't mean he wasn't hooking up with someone else. It didn't mean he hadn't forgotten about her. It just meant that he was stuck around Jackie all day, the girl he couldn't stand and would never do anything with… _Right?_ _He would never date Jackie. No. He could never do that to you._

_Guy like him could get anyone he wants. _She couldn't help but cringe at the thought. After all, he was perfect, and she was… _bleh. _What sane guy would ever want her, what with her issues and frayed mental state? Especially since it was Hyde, and he knew _everything. Nobody who knew anything about you would ever really want you._

As Chris got lost deeper and deeper into her thoughts, she noticed less and less of the guys who approached her. Their voices turned into just white noise behind her walls of insecurities. She shook her head in disgust and scolded herself, _Pull yourself together! You're surrounded by guys. _Hot _guys. Stop thinking about the one asshole that—_

"You're blocking my sun," she told Ashton, interrupting her own thoughts. His body towered over her as he looked down at the petite girl.

His simple response was, "You're frowning."

Chris looked up at her best friend and couldn't help but let out a tiny smile. As insufferable and mean and emotionless as he was, he was an amazing friend. She wouldn't trade him for anything. "I guess I was."

"A guy?" he guessed.

Chris stared blankly at him and sat up. His ability to tell what was on her mind was still as creepy as ever. "No."

He cocked an eyebrow and inquired, "Name?"

She shook her head not in dismay, but happily this time as she answered his question. "Hyde." It was almost kind of scary how well he knew her.

"What'd he do? Dump you? Cheat on you? Reject you?"

"He's just… He's…" Chris struggled to find the words to describe why she was so hung up over this boy. She paused to consider it before deciding on an answer. "He's a tease."

Ashton sat down next to her and informed her, "So are you."

They stayed next to each other in a silence that said more than words ever could. A good five minutes passed before Chris looked up at the olive-skinned face of her best friend and broke the silence. "Where's Donna? Shouldn't you be hitting on her or something?"

Ashton's head went from left to right, his long black hair swishing with every movement he made. "She's too busy babbling about some Eric kid… He her boyfriend?"

"Kind of… I honestly don't know what they are anymore. I think at this point he's her ex, but I could be wrong." She caught sight of his slightly dejected facial expression and said sympathetically, "Sorry, man."

He shrugged to show his indifference to the subject, brushing off the low blow with little effort. "I don't care. Just thought she was hot. No big deal."

Chris let out an exasperated groan and demanded, "Would it really kill you to speak in complete sentences?"

"Possibly."

A laugh escaped her throat as she involuntarily found herself enjoying Ashton's wry sense of humor. She then scanned her eyes over the beach until she found Kelso and Annette. She frowned a bit, trying to decipher what she thought of them. "They look so…"

"Gross," Ashton offered helpfully. When he saw Chris's expression he explained, "He's pissed she won't put out. She's completely oblivious to it." He looked back from the couple to his best friend and inquired, "He a whore?"

"Completely and totally," she answered without even pausing for consideration. "But, that's why we love him."

"You always did have bad taste in friends," Ashton said softly. Chris looked over to read his facial expression and find out what was going on in his head, but his face was completely blank.

She stared at him as she ordered, "Oh, shut _up. _You're stuck with me whether you like it or not."

A small smile tugged his lips upwards as he draped his arm over Chris's shoulders. She nuzzled her head into her shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist. She stared out at the glistening water, loving every moment of it. She hadn't realized how much she missed California until she actually had the opportunity to come back.

Ashton glanced down at her pondering eyes and asked, "Penny for your thoughts?"

"Make it a quarter and you're on."

* * *

_**A/N: Sorry this was so short. The next two scenes go together, but not so much with this one, so I'm going to group them together next chapter. It should be up tomorrow-ish. Review, please? (:**_


	19. Chapter 19

_**Author's Note: This is going to be another short chapter. Just sayinn. But, hey! Two new chapters, just for you. :D**_

_**Read and review?(:**_

* * *

_{Kelso let out one of his signature 'I'm an idiot' laughs as Chris splashed water at him. When he didn't do anything other than that in retaliation, she groaned exasperatedly. "Kelso! Come _on! _You're no fun." She mock-pouted at him and folded her arms across her chest._

_"I am _too _fun!" He dove underwater, disappearing from sight through the murkiness. Chris let out a laugh of her own and began looking around for him. A squeak emitted from her throat when he grabbed her leg and tripped her._

_"That's more like it!" she exclaimed. She spit out water and brushed a piece of hair out of her face as she got to her feet. "But, now I have to kill you."_

_She pulled the same trick as he had, vanishing under the gentle waves. He grew frantic, knowing that Chris was an expert in the business of revenge. He didn't know whether she legitimately wanted to hurt him, but from past girl friends he'd realized that it was better to be safe than sorry._

_He stumbled forward a step or two, barely able to regain his balance after Chris's unexpected weight jumped on his back. He struggled for a few moments before getting her off of his back. Once he did, he clasped her hands together inside of his own and holding her captive in front of him. He grinned his typical goofy grin and inquired, "Give up yet?"_

_"Not even close!" her face turned blank as she thought of ways to free herself. An evil grin came on her face as she realized the perfect solution to her little dilemma. "Don't make me use my secret weapon," she warned him._

_"Use whatever you want, Chris. I'm like a freaking _ninja. _I will _never _let go. Ever," he told her, all of the confidence he felt oozing in his voice and dripping smugness._

_She got up on her toes and placed a quick peck on his lips. Kelso was so shocked that he actually let go of her hands. "I warned you!" she exclaimed jovially._

_He looked at her hungrily, and she laughed again. She began to run away from him, completely wrapped up in her little game. Little did she know the _real _reason he was chasing her. In three quick bounds, he was upon her. He grabbed her arm and whirled her around. She smiled and conceded defeat. "Alright; you got me."_

_Kelso didn't care about that, though. He just pulled her in closer to his body and _really _kissed her.}_

Kelso awoke from his dream with a pounding heart. He looked over at the back of the van and saw Chris and Donna's sleeping forms. He scowled and thought, _God damn her._

This was the second night in a row that he'd re-lived the first day they'd spent at the beach in his sleep. He didn't understand it. Why the hell was she still in his head? He'd done it with girls and not even given a second glance, but one kiss from Chris and all of a sudden he couldn't think straight.

He didn't do it with her. He didn't even see her shirtless! _It was just a kiss!_ She hadn't even let it last. She'd pulled away before he could even get any tongue action. So why the hell was he dreaming about _her, _instead of any of the other girls he'd gotten with?

He sighed exasperatedly and left the van, hoping that some fresh air would clear all thoughts of her from his mind.

* * *

_**A/N: See? Short chapter! And, come on, I**_** HAD **_**to. We can't let Chris get with everyone in the gang and leave out the biggest whore of them all! I'm not sure where I'm going to bring this… Actually, I'm not sure where any of this is going. I have like 3290318471035787459 alternate situations… hmmm. :D**_

_**Review please? (:**_


	20. Chapter 20

_**Author's Note: I feel bad for leaving you guys hanging so long, and then giving you two half-ass, short-as-hell chapters, so I'm starting this one right away! I promise that this one will be longer, and it'll have some of the much anticipated Jackie and Hyde action! You heard right; it's finally happening. Took me long enough, but they will be hooking up. Still not sure if they'll go anywhere after that, being as I got two votes for yes and two for no. :P But whatever, I'm pretty close to deciding on my own anyways. And, I have a chapter or two left to decide! YAY! :D**_

_**Read and review?(:**_

* * *

Hyde casted a scowl over at his de facto family, who were all taking turns standing by the phone. Each person had already taken at least three turns talking to Chris— except for Hyde. She'd asked to talk to each and every person there, gushing to each of them about her summer— except for Hyde. She'd talked to Red and Kitty, and even asked to talk to _Eric. _However, she had not _once_ mentioned talking to Hyde, even when Kitty prompted her about him. She would just ask her to pass the phone back to Red or Eric, and it was beginning to piss Hyde off. He was forced out of his own irately ranting thoughts and into the real world when he heard Eric say Kelso's name.

"Okay. … Wait! … _You and Kelso? _Ew! … Oh. Well, still! That's nasty … Yeah, I know. He's a whore. … He has _not _done it with that many girls! Are you _serious? _… What about Donna? … _Really? _That's _awesome! _… How're you doing? You haven't talked about yourself other than the thing with Kelso. … You've been on his mind, too. He misses you like crazy. … Well, of course he didn't _say it, _Chris. He'd never admit to that. … Do you want to talk to him? … What do you mean, you can't? …Chris, you're freaking crazy! I'm giving him the phone."

Eric lowered the phone from his head and held it out towards Hyde. "She wants to talk to you."

"Awww, see that, Steven? I told you it was just a matter of time!" Kitty cooed from where she stood at the counter.

"No, she doesn't," Hyde cut in, disrupting Kitty's excitement. "She doesn't want to talk to me every bit as much as I don't want to talk to her." He bit his tongue to keep himself from saying more and wondered if his lie was as unbelievable as it sounded.

Eric rolled his eyes, although he was unsure of whether or not Hyde was being truthful on his part. He shook the phone from left to right pointedly and said, "She's just nervous, Hyde. She thinks you'll just yell at her."

Hyde's eyes shot daggers at his best friend as he debated internally for a moment. After weighing both options he forced himself to his feet and snatched the phone from Eric's hand. He shot the Formans a look that clearly told them that he wanted privacy. Both parents left (but not before Red got the chance to grumble something about his being a dumbass), but Eric just sat himself at the kitchen table. When it became clear that he wouldn't leave, Hyde sighed exasperatedly and said into the receiver, "You wanted to talk?"

Chris hesitated for a few seconds, wondering whether or not she should bother responding to him. In the short amount of time she spent considering, she couldn't help but realize how much she'd missed him. A wave of joy ran over her at the idea of talking to him. "Hi."

He cocked an eyebrow, finding it kind of funny that after such a long pause all she had to say was 'hi'. In the midst of the silence, he'd actually begun to think that she hung up. But, hell; if she wanted to play it simple, he could play it simple. "Hi."

"It's good to hear your voice," she told him without thinking. She scolded herself mentally for being stupid enough to admit that to him.

He felt a chill go down his spine when he heard that. He found it kind of creepy that she'd said exactly what he was thinking. Instead of returning the truth, though, he chose to be the snarky bastard he was. "Yeah. I tend to have that effect on people."

She frowned at his response and decided that he was probably being an asshole on purpose. Despite knowing his intention, she felt herself get upset as she retorted, "Yeah, well, you also tend to ignore people."

Hyde scowled at that. _He _ignored people? She'd up and fucking left the state without telling him, and purposely asked to talk to everyone _but _him for an entire month! He used his anger to form an answer, then bottled it back up inside of him so none of it would display in his voice. "_You_ tend to abandon people."

Her rage boiled over as she exclaimed angrily, "_You _tend to lead people on!"

He decided to kick up his bitchiness a notch as he informed her steadily, "Well, _you _tend to screw around with every guy you know. Hell; you don't even _have _to know them. Just your eyes landing on a guy immediately grants them passage into your pants."

If possible, Chris felt herself getting more worked up. "You know what, Hyde, I really _don't _have to take this from you! You aren't even worth my time! This is _exactly _why I haven't bothered asking to talk to you in the past month! You're so _IMMATURE!_" She slammed the pay phone down against its cradle.

Hyde put the phone back carefully and looked back at Eric. Hyde ignored the sympathetically disappointed looks from his best friend and informed him, "I told you that she didn't want to talk to me."

Not bothering to wait for a response, Hyde walked down into the basement and into his modest room. He looked down and cocked an eyebrow when he saw the petite brunette he used to think he hated sitting on his bed. "Can I help you?" he asked sarcastically.

"It took you long enough to get down here! God, can't you do _anything? _I've been sitting here for, like, fifteen minutes!" Jackie fumed at him. "I mean, if I knew you were going to take this long, I would've freaking gone to _Eric!_"

"Calm the hell down," he ordered. When she reluctantly clamped her mouth shut, he looked at her and asked the same question he had before in different words. "Now, uh, why are you in my room?"

She paused for a moment, letting her anger drain away before she admitted sheepishly, "I was bored. And I figured, maybe you were bored too…"

He cocked an eyebrow and said, "You want a cheap hook-up to occupy time? I thought we agreed that was a one-time deal."

"Well, Steven, if I'd meant it I wouldn't be standing here right now, would I? No! Now, if you're not interested then just _tell me_ so that I can find someone who's actually worth my time instead of you!"

Hearing two girls tell him he wasn't worth their time in one day probably would've pissed Hyde off any other day. And the first time, it _had _pissed him off. But this time, it was more of a turn on than anything. He paused and allowed a predatory smile to outline his lips as he informed her, "Y'know what? I'm bored, too."

She was upon him in an instant, pressing her mouth on his and knotting her thin hands into his voluptuous hair. He placed her on top of his bed and carefully lay on top of her, never breaking away from their kiss. She pulled back from his mouth, kissing her way up his face and nibbling on his ear. She whispered a quiet "Good" before changing her mouth's ascent to a descent down his body.

* * *

_**A/N: We've officially finished chapter twenty! The big two-zero! SCOREE! :D**_

_**So? Thoughts? Opinions? Review? Please? :D**_

* * *

_**And also: Thank you so much everybody for your support, whether you review or you just read this. I appreciate it so much!**_


	21. Chapter 21

_**Author's Note: Bahdeedahhh. Hello. I got bored of having the troubled pair Hyde and Chris so far apart, so I'm bringing them back together (location-wise) this chapter. Cool? Coollll.**_

_**Oh, and also, I'm slightly closer to making a decision on whether or not Hyde and Jackie are going to date. :D Which I should probably do soon because the decision is due by next chapter… "/**_

_**Read and review? (Insert heart here)**_

* * *

Chris came out of her and Donna's bathroom in a towel and let out a sigh as she did so. It was their first night back in Point Place, and she already missed Ashton and the beach and her home turf already. She knew it was just a matter of time before she warmed up to Wisconsin again, but for the meantime she felt miserable.

Donna looked up from where she sat at their desk and exclaimed, _"Chris! _We're in Point Place now; remember? You should know better than to come out of the shower not fully clothed! What if Fez is in here?"

Chris shook her head with a soft chuckle, feeling at home already at just the memory of her foreign friend. "I missed that kid," she admitted. She looked down and saw his feet sticking out from under her bed and added theatrically, "You know, if he was here, I might just have to give him my virginity."

Fez scrambled out from under the bed and slid up next to her, trying to be suave. "Never fear, baby. Fezzy is here." He lost his bravado when his face twisted into his familiar smile as he cracked himself up.

Chris rolled her eyes and shoved him. She laughed when he fell backwards onto her bed. She grabbed some clothes in one hand and re-entered the bathroom to get dressed.

Fez frowned disappointedly, but was back on his feet in no time. He moved over to Donna with a provocative smile. "So… Did _you _miss the Fez too?"

She rolled her eyes and exclaimed with a grin, "Get out of here, foreigner!"

* * *

The next morning, Chris awoke to Donna shaking her shoulder. She let out a groan as she rolled over and looked at the clock on her nightstand. "Donna! It's only seven in the morning! What the _hell _is your problem?"

"We're all going over to the Formans' for breakfast in half an hour! So get your lazy ass up!" Donna chirped happily as she moved over to her desk and brushed out her hair.

"I'm not moving for shit," the ever-so-sleepy Chris grumbled. She re-closed her eyes and tried to pretend she was sleeping, hoping that in doing so she might actually fall asleep.

"Hyde will be there," Donna reminded her persuasively. She didn't bother looking over at her best friend as she added, "Don't you want to see him?"

"Hyde can go burn in hell for all I care," Chris lied angrily before slamming her pillow down over her head. She didn't care what Donna said— she just wanted to go back to sleep, and Donna's voice was cutting through her potential slumber like a knife.

"What are you talking about? Up until two weeks ago, all you ever thought about was how much you missed our little delinquent." Donna paused for a moment to consider that. As she did so, she felt her brow furrow. "Wait… Did something happen?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Chris growled. "He's an ass, and that's all you need to know about the situation. Just… tell Red I'll come by to see them later, alright? And give me a ring when Hyde _isn't _down there to ruin my day."

Donna rolled her eyes at Chris's juvenile behavior. She looked over at her and said, "Yeah, alright, whatever. Do what you want." She hesitated to debate whether or not to say anything extra, but then decided against it and walked out the door. She went downstairs and into the Forman kitchen next door through the sliding glass door.

Kitty looked up from her cooking over at Donna and inquired, "Where's Chris? I thought she was coming in with you."

Donna waited a moment to recall what Chris had told her and repeated, "Chris told me to tell you that she wasn't coming to breakfast, but that she would come over later to see you all."

Red casted a glare up at the redheaded neighbor girl and demanded harshly, "Well, why the hell isn't she coming?"

Donna couldn't help but let out a tired sigh as she said exhaustedly, "Chris is trying to avoid Hyde. Apparently they got into a fight or something, but all she would tell me was that he's an asshole."

Hyde strolled into the kitchen right then, dressed in his usual jeans and Zeppelin t-shirt. He looked from at Red, who looked like he wanted to kick his ass, over to Donna, who looked exhausted, to Kitty, who was casting him disappointed looks, and finally to Bob, who just looked hungry. He waited for a moment to see if anything would change before asking, "What?"

Red glared at Hyde, then pointed a bony finger at him and demanded, "Get your ass over next door before my foot goes to your ass!" When Hyde's only response was to stare at him blankly, he redirected his finger to the door. "Go fix whatever the hell you did and get Chris over here!"

Hyde let out a scowl, but when Red began to get up from his seat he decided that the man was serious about the whole 'foot in ass' thing and chose to scurry out of the kitchen. He debated for a moment before actually following Red's instructions and knocking on the Pinciottis' front door. When he didn't receive an answer, he let himself into the house and went upstairs to Donna's room.

Sure enough, he saw Chris laying there. He knocked softly on the door and was greeted with an angry, "I told you, Donna, I don't want to go! I'm not risking seeing that asshole."

Hyde cocked an eyebrow at that, debating on how to respond. He waited for a few seconds before informing her, "Said asshole happens to be here to see you. Red told me to tell you to get your ass over there, and now that you've already seen me, you have no reason not to go."

Chris bit her lip first out of indecision and then to keep a grin from spreading across her mouth. Instead of showing her joy at hearing his voice she retorted grumpily, "Technically, I haven't seen you. Which is good, because I might vomit on sight. You disgust me."

Once again, his left eyebrow shot up at her response. He'd known she was pissed off, but he honestly hadn't expected her to be hostile. She wasn't usually hostile (or, at least, attempting to be so). He moved over and sat on her bed. She looked up at him angrily and whacked him with a pillow. His only response was to smirk and say, "Now you've seen me."

She groaned exasperatedly and announced, "You are _such _a dillhole! I swear to god Hyde, you will _be _the death of me." She looked at his face and, unable to contain her smile anymore, let out a genuine laugh. "Hi."

"See, _that's _the kind of greeting I appreciate. Much better than the first time around." He paused and added, "Point Place has been boring as hell lately."

She sat up in bed and stared at him incredulously, brown eyes boring holes into blue. "Steven Hyde, did you just admit that you _missed _me?" He pursed his lips together in a fashion much like hers, which resulted in more laughter on her end. She gave him a smile and inquired, "What would you say if I said I missed you too?"

Hyde paused, not sure how to respond to that. After a moment he informed her slyly, "I'd say that 'you aren't even worth my time' and that you're 'so immature'."

Chris smacked his arm before letting out a soft chuckle and apologizing, "Sorry. I mean… Sorry. About everything." She paused hesitantly before going on, "Ever since November I've been really bad to you. You don't deserve any of the crap I dish out to you, and I'm not exactly sure why I bother doing it. I think… I think that it might be because I—"

Hyde cut her off by leaning in and kissing her hungrily. He let it last only for a few seconds before he realized his actions and pulled away. "…Huh," he decided after a moment.

She cocked an eyebrow, a smile smirk on her face. "Does that mean that you're sorry too? Or can I continue with my apology?"

He considered the given options before inquiring, "Honestly, I think we should just make out a little."

_She _considered _his _options this time before she let another sly smile highlight her features. "I'm not letting you kiss me until you apologize."

Hyde stared at her incredulously, wondering if she was kidding. When he realized she was serious, he stared into her eyes to see if she was high. Since her pupils weren't dilated, he could only assume that she'd gone insane and informed her, "Listen, I know you've only been here for like a year, but in case you haven't noticed, I don't do that."

Her grin continued to uplift the corners of her mouth as she softly pressed it to Hyde's. "Alright, dillhole. Let's go to breakfast."

* * *

_**A/N: I decided to end it here because I'm still not sure where I'm going with them. I'll figure it out soon; I promise(: I'm really closing to getting there, but there's just a few nasty doubts swimming around my head and swarming the decision I've made, so I'm going to rethink it. You'll know what I've picked probably by next chapter.**_


	22. Chapter 22

_**Author's Note: Heyy guys! Sorry it's taking me so long to get up new chapters lately. I've changed the story line majorly from the first draft for the site so that people might actually want to read it, so instead of just editing what I've already written and adding more detail and such, I actually have to re-write a full chapter. As you could imagine, that takes **_**much **_**more time. In addition, I'm actually beginning to have a social life, so that drastically cuts into my writing time. Sorry about all of that. ): Believe me, it sucks for me too. Lmao.**_

_**Soo, enjoy this chapter! I wrote it just for you(:**_

* * *

Chris was sitting on Hyde's lap in the basement when Fez burst into the room. Kelso was strewn across the couch, examining an ice pop. Fez looked around at the trio that took no interest in him and exclaimed obliviously, "Guys! I got a new record! _Check it out!_" Before anybody could stop him, he threw his record into the player, and disco music filled the room.

Chris got about thirty seconds through the first track when she decided she couldn't handle having to listen to any more of this musical torture. She looked at Fez with an incredulous expression and demanded, "What the hell _is _this crap?"

Fez gaped at her, shocked that anyone would dare and call his precious disco '_crap'. _He stared at her blankly for a moment, wondering if she even realized what she was listening to. He stared her in the eyes and decided to enlighten her. "It's _disco._"

She knitted her eyebrows together, a clear look of distaste on her face. "No wonder why it sucks. Turn it the hell off!"

Hyde looked up at Chris's face and informed her, "You just got a thousand times better_._" He paused for a moment before adding, "Hey, do you think you could go get one of _my_ records? If I listen to this for another minute, my ears will start to bleed."

"Sure." She walked into his room and stared around the confined space for a few seconds before deciding that there was _no _way she was going to be able to find anything without seeing something that would scar her forever. It was, after all, Hyde's room. She turned around and poked her head out the door before inquiring, "Hyde? Could you help me? I can't find it."

Hyde looked up from an apparently heated debate with Kelso over whether or not ice pops were a part of any of Hyde's government conspiracy theories and said, "Gimme a sec."

She nodded and sat on his bed lazily, swinging her feet off the edge and waiting for Hyde to come in. After a minute or two he finally strolled through the door. He eyed where she was sitting on his bed and pressed his lips to hers. She let out a soft giggle and fell backwards so that she was lying down. He climbed up onto the bed and hovered over her as her lips slowly parted.

Three crappy disco songs later, Kelso shot Fez a frown and a confused look. "What's taking them so long? It doesn't take this much time to just find a stupid record."

"They cannot be doing much," Fez decided as he stared backwards towards Hyde's room. "The door is open."

"Unless," Kelso said enthusiastically as he pointed his finger at Fez to enunciate his point, "_Unless _that's just to throw us off the scent."

The two perverts looked at each other for a moment before simultaneously jumping up and rushing over to the door of Hyde's room. They crowded the doorway and watched in amusement as Hyde made out with Chris's neck. Chris seemingly took no notice of it as she pawed through all of his albums. She pulled out one and said appreciatively, "Ted Nugent? Nice!" He had no response but to continue sucking on her neck. She continued looking through his music and demanded with a scowl, "Where the _hell _is the Led Zeppelin?"

Hyde finally pulled away from her and said, "I'm gonna go get back to the guys." Chris turned to face him and pressed her lips to his as a quick goodbye before turning back to his albums. Hyde turned around and walked past Fez and Kelso casually. "Hey guys."

Chris stood there for a few minutes before finally finding what she was looking for. _"Ha! _I found the Zeppelin!" She grinned victoriously and turned to walk out of the room. She looked at the two guys blocking her way and said, "'Scuze me."

Kelso stared at her incredulously, shocked by what he had just seen. He opened his mouth to speak and let out a stuttered, "You were just… and Hyde was just… and… and…" Kelso frowned at her.

"What the hell are you blabbering about now?" she demanded, a joking tone underneath her harsh words. She cocked an eyebrow when he had no response. Neither of the two moved out of her way, she shoved her way between them and walked out to where Hyde was and sat on his lap.

Kelso stood there flabbergasted for a moment before storming over to where Chris and Hyde were. He stared at the two and demanded, "Okay. What the _hell _is going on?"

Hyde barely concealed a grin as he looked up at his moron of a best friend and responded, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Fez pointed to Chris and said accusingly, "_Her _neck is red and covered in Hyde slobber."

Kelso nodded vigorously and added, "She's sitting on your lap!"

Chris raised a single eyebrow in a very Hyde-like fashion and inquired a blatant, "So?"

Kelso decided to get over his immediate jealousy and instead directed his attention towards Hyde's well-being. He looked at him worriedly and warned, "Man, don't go down that road. Kiss her once and she never leaves your head. It's almost impossible to do it with anyone!"

Hyde looked at Chris and cocked an eyebrow, just like she had done to Kelso a moment before. "You kissed Kelso?"

Chris ignored her sort-of boyfriend's comment and instead informed Kelso, "First of all, we kissed twice. Second of all, it mustn't have meant _that _much to you, because you still managed to nail every girl on the beach— _and _get a girlfriend!"

He frowned and disagreed, "Annette totally ruined my doing it streak. She wouldn't put out at _all. _I only picked her because I thought she was a whore!"

Hyde rolled his eyes at the road this conversation was going and announced, "I have to get to the work, you guys."

"I'll bring you something _'special'_ later. My dad's getting some real good super skunk later… I'll be sure to get you some."

"Thanks." He pressed his lips to hers with brief aggression before pulling away. She got up off of his lap and allowed him to leave before placing herself back on his chair.

* * *

Chris looked up into Hyde's beautiful blue eyes and informed him, "Somebody's going to catch us."

He rolled his eyes and pressed his lips to hers again. "Let 'em." Chris sighed, but decided that the risk was worth the reward. She kissed her way down his face before kissing his neck. Hyde used this opportunity to add, "I put a closed sign on the door and the lights are out. Besides, my boss is really—" He froze when Chris did something with her mouth that felt better than anything that Jackie or any of his other recent hook-ups had ever done.

"Sorry," she apologized. She pulled back with a sheepish grin and guessed, "Too much?"

He gazed at her in awe for a moment before proceeding to crash his mouth onto hers. She smiled as her lips parted and allowed Hyde entrance. Just then, the lights turned on and Leo walked out of the back room. "Hey! Hyde, man! Where's Lap Girl?"

"Hi!" Chris exclaimed to the scraggly man with a big grin on her face. She proceeded to shove Hyde off of her and sit up. But when Leo's comment registered with her, she frowned. "_Lap Girl?_" Chris inquired. But just as she had when Hyde had asked about her and Kelso's kiss, he ignored her.

"Chris, this is my boss, Leo. Leo, this is my… This is Chris."

Leo gave Hyde an odd look before turning his attention to Chris. "Pumpkin, man! The stuff you brought works great!"

"It should— it's _yours._" Chris got to her feet and greeted him with a hug. "So _this _is where you've been hiding!"

"Yeah, man! Some chick brought in a great new stash earlier today," he said happily.

Chris rolled her eyes, and Hyde watched the scene unfold with a bemused expression on his face. "I take it that you two already know each other?"

Once again, Hyde's comment was ignored as Leo went on talking. "Man, I didn't know you were dating _Hyde._" He then looked over at Hyde and let out a grin as he added, "Man, I thought you'd get stuck with Lap Girl."

Chris frowned again and demanded, "Who the hell is Lap Girl?"

Hyde bit his tongue to keep from saying something stupid and instead responded, "She's not important." When he caught Chris's scrutinizing glare he added, "I'll explain it all later, alright?"

"No," she responded curtly. She pulled out of Leo's embrace and inquired, "Daddy, who's Lap Girl?"

Hyde choked on air when he heard that. He looked at the two and demanded, "_Leo _is your drug-dealing, brewery-owning, constantly-disappearing father?"

Hyde's comments once again went unheard as Leo answered Chris's question. "Lap Girl! She's short, man, real short. And her hair is brown. And she sat on Hyde's lap a lot!"

Chris pursed her lips together angrily and cocked an eyebrow at Hyde. "Did he just tell me that you were dating _Jackie?_"

"Did you just call him _Daddy?_" Hyde retorted, a horrified expression on his face.

Chris stared at him incredulously before stating slowly, "Yes, Steven, I just called him _Daddy. _Leo is my father. Now did you, or did you _not _date Jackie?"

He paused, debating whether or not to say anything. He hesitated before finally telling half of the truth: "No."

* * *

_**A/N: I'm ending it there just 'cause I couldn't think of what else to put. Mah baddd.(:**_

_**Review? :D**_


	23. Chapter 23

_**Author's Note: Starting next chapter, I'm going to respond to reviews in my author's notes instead of messages. Why? Because it's easier. And I am one lazy, lazy author. (;**_

_**It's been long enough since I updated, so I figure I might as well get crackin' on this story(: I know how I want to end it, but not how to get there. So buh. Kiiiiiinda sucks. :P but I promise I'll figure it out!**_

_**Read and review? (:**_

* * *

"Hyde, so _what?_" Eric exclaimed defiantly when Hyde walked into the basement with news of Chris's father. "This is a _good _thing! It's Leo, man. Now if her disappearing father comes back while you two are fooling around, instead of worrying about getting your ass kicked, you can just say you were looking for a quarter and he'll accept it! He's _Leo! _He'll let you get away with _anything!_"

"They don't even have the same last name," Fez pointed out exasperatedly. He paused and inquired with a dubious tone, "Does Leo even _have_ a last name?"

Kelso stared at Fez with an incredulous look on his face and inquired, "Fez… do _you _even have a last name?"

"Of course!" When nobody's eyes wavered from Fez and it became clear to him that they expected to hear his last name he exclaimed, "This is not about me! This is about Hyde not loving his girlfriend!"

"I don't love _anything, _man," Hyde informed the rest of the gang. "Love is just a concept created by—"

"Before you go into another one of your conspiracy theories, I have a way to fix this little problem of yours," Eric told Hyde with a grin.

* * *

Hyde coughed twice from the smoke filling the room before asked of Eric, "Man, where did Fez and Kelso go?"

"My sister came home," was all the response Eric needed to give. Hyde nodded his understanding and let a smirk escape his lips before saying, "I should've known that Laurie would be the whore that Fez lost his virginity to."

"Okay, Hyde? My sister may be a whore, but she has higher standards than _Fez. _She goes for guys like… like…"

"Kelso," he finished smugly, the knowing smirk never leaving his face.

Eric stared at Hyde with an evil glare and retorted, "_You're _one to talk about standards. You hooked up with Jackie."

Hyde shook his head and remarked with a combination of anger in his voice, "No. This is a bad circle. I don't like you. I don't like this _circle._ We need something to complete it. Something… stupid. Like _Kelso, _man."

As if on cue, Fez ran downstairs with no pants on and sat on the couch next to Eric. "Laurie would not have sex with me," he told the de facto brothers dejectedly.

"I found Fez!" Eric exclaimed happily, thrilled with his discovery.

"Where's Kelso?" Hyde asked of the foreigner, solely for Eric's benefit. He was already sure of the answer, but he wanted Eric to have to hear it out loud.

Before Fez could state what the pair already knew, Eric decided to stop his oncoming disgust by interjecting with a question he found himself asking his friend far too often: "Fez, where are your pants?"

Fez looked down at his bare legs and frowned, as if thinking about it. "I must have left them in Laurie's closet," he decided before taking the joint from Eric's hand. He inhaled and smiled at the other two boys and inquired, "Does anybody really need pants? Living without them is just so freeing!"

Hyde stared at him and shot down the idea immediately. "Man, you so do _not _need dope. You're like… high off life."

Eric eyed the half-naked foreigner and began to laugh uncontrollably. "Man, I gotta get on that! That shit sounds _amazing!_"

* * *

Chris sat on her bed patiently, waiting for Donna to finish her shower so that she could interrogate her. The day before, she'd asked Donna to help her out by asking Jackie whether or not she and Hyde had had a summer fling. Donna had reluctantly agreed, and Chris was dying to figure out how their conversation went. While waiting for Donna to come out of the shower, Chris replayed her talk with Donna over and over in her head.

_"You want me to do what?" Donna had asked skeptically, staring at Chris with a downright confused expression on her face. She couldn't believe what she was being asked to do._

_"I want you to talk to Jackie about Hyde," Chris repeated, nothing but seriousness on her face as she silently pleaded for Donna to agree to do her this favor. "I need to find out if they really hooked up over the summer. Please, Donna? I'll love you forever."_

_"Pshh, as if you don't already." Donna frowned when she realized that her roommate wasn't going to crack a smile until she said yes. She let out a sigh and conceded, "Fine. I'll do it. But _only _because you're my roommate and I know you won't be happy until you find out for sure that they never hooked up. I mean, they freaking hate each other! They'd never do anything."_

_"I know. But I have to be certain." Chris smiled and hugged Donna gratefully. "Thank you so much, Donna. You have no idea how much I appreciate this."_

Donna walked out of the bathroom after Chris had replayed their conversation over in her head about five times. As soon as Chris saw Donna walk out of the bathroom, she pounced on her eagerly. "Donna!"

The redhead winced and hesitantly faced Chris. "Hey, Chris…"

A smile lit Chris's face as she inquired, "Did you talk to Jackie? What'd you find out? They didn't hook up after all; did they? Were you right?" Donna stared at Chris and bit her lip, unsure of how to start. Chris's face slowly fell as the two girls stared at each other and she asked softly, "Donna… did they…?"

Donna nodded sadly and said, "I'm so sorry."

* * *

_**A/N: Weak circle, I know. Mah baddd. And I know this was a mad short chapter, but I thought that was a good place to cut it off, so I did. I promise the next chapter will be up faster than this one was!**_

_**Review? :D**_


	24. Chapter 24

_**Author's Note: This chapter was inspired by the episode "Nobody's Fault But Mine (a.k.a. Hyde Loves Jackie)", which was shown to me by my lovely reader whisperinginthewind! Whisperinginthewind helped me out soo much with this, and I can't thank her enough. Honestly. Thank you soo much dearie. I love you for making this chapter a million times better than it was:D**_

_**On to the reviews!**_

—_**shippolove844: First review! Wahoo! :D And agreed yo, I was disgusted with myself the entire time I was writing the whole HydexJackie thing. It was mad depressing. But on a lighter note, thank you so much for constantly reviewing! You have no idea how much your support means to me(:**_

_**—Mega Awesome Marx: I KNOW, RIGHT? I like, hated him while I was writing that. But it's all good, I'll love him again soon:D**_

_**Read and review? :D**_

* * *

The next morning, after Chris was done crying and throwing temper tantrums over her stupid Zen soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend, she started working up her emotional capacity. She knew it would take her a while to get over it, but she needed to talk to Hyde… and _now. _After breakfast with Bob and Donna, she got dressed as prettily as she could without looking like she was trying too hard. She would do every little thing in her power so that when she dumped Hyde, he would regret his decision.

_But what if he didn't? _That was the question that continually haunted her. What if he didn't care that their relationship was going to be over? What if, by breaking up with him, it just sent him running back into Jackie's arms? All were risks that Chris knew she was going to take, and she was having second thoughts about the whole ordeal. She was unsure about whether or not she _really _wanted to end things with him. After all, they hadn't been together when he'd hooked up with her… right? And she didn't even know how far they'd gone. Maybe in Jackie's world, 'hooking up' was code for 'making out'. It wouldn't surprise Chris if it was.

But, no; Chris wasn't going to let her fears or uncertainty fog up her path. She knew that if she didn't confront him now, she never would and it would eat away at her. Which was why she, Christina Elizabeth Steele, was going to break up with the man of her dreams.

She just hoped to god that it was worth it.

* * *

By around four o' clock in the afternoon, Chris had finally managed to summon the courage to go over to the Formans' and talk to Hyde. She'd also worked on turning her despair into anger to keep herself from crying while she talked to him. She strode into the basement purposefully, ignored the rest of the gang, and glared at Hyde. "Can we talk?" She eyed everyone else in the room and added, "Alone?"

"Well, you looked super pissed, so… yeah," Eric decided. He and Fez went upstairs, but Donna stopped to squeeze Chris's shoulder and whisper, "Good luck" before shooting Hyde an evil glare and following her boyfriend.

As soon as they heard the basement door close, Hyde redirected his attention towards Chris. He waited for a moment to hear her talk, but when she didn't pipe up, he realized that he would have to start it off. He gestured for her to sit down, and when she did he decided to prompt her, "You wanted to talk?"

Chris glared at him and said with an obviously accusing tone in her voice, "You lied to me, Steven." She watched him flinch at being called by his first name, and she almost frowned at how big of an impact she had had on him. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all? But when she saw the denial cross his features, her anger flared back up and she added, "You hooked up with Jackie."

He stared at her blankly, not quite sure how to respond. His heart pounded as he felt fear of the consequences of his actions rise up to a boil inside of him. He showed no sign of caring on the exterior, though, and responded to her with a plain and simple, "Yeah."

She stared at him blankly before cocking an eyebrow. "You're not even going to try and deny it? You're not going to make up some stupid story?"

"Well, technically, I didn't lie. You asked if we were dating and no, we weren't." He looked at her face, in which her devastation was beginning to shine though. He looked at her and felt a pang of regret in his stomach— _he'd _done this to her. He took her hand and said softly, "Listen, Chris—"

She ripped her hands out of his and jumped to her feet. "No, I will _not _listen! You freaking _lied to me, _Steven! I thought that you were the one person who wouldn't do that to me! At least, not about something as major as this!"

"I didn't lie," he said softly, then took off his glasses. He stared into her eyes and added, "I didn't mean for it to happen, Chris. I swear. But one day she just pounced on me, and… well, I'm a teenage boy, Chris. What was I supposed to do?"

"Um, _shut her down, _maybe?" she seethed. She stared down at Hyde angrily and exclaimed, "I can't believe I trusted you!"

"Chris, I made a _mistake._" His eyes pleaded with her to reconsider, and his face had remorse written all over it. She almost bought into it and forgave him, but she forced herself to stay strong and stand by her point.

"I can't date a liar, Hyde," she responded. She was unable to look at his face, so she decided to give him an annoyed eye roll instead. She knew one more glance at his expression, which matched that of a kicked puppy, would drive her right back into his arms.

"I didn't fucking _lie!_" he exclaimed. He was getting so frustrated with her— and when she'd rolled her eyes at him, it was the last straw. Was she even _listening _to him? At _all? _"I don't know why you're making such a big deal out of this! We weren't even together when it happened!"

"I'm making such a big _deal _over this because the entire summer, all I thought about was _you! _Whether or not you were thinking of me, if you were single, how badly I wanted you with me, what would happen when we saw each other, whether or not you would forgive me… And the _entire time, _you were off fooling around with _Jackie, _the girl who's been trying to make my life a living _hell _ever since I got to this stupid town!"

"Really? You were thinking about me _all summer? _What about when you hooked up with Kelso, huh? Were you thinking about me _then?_" he demanded.

"We _kissed! _I broke it off after maybe... what, all of _five _seconds? And I didn't _lie about it! _I didn't try to hide it from you like a completely inconsiderate _asshole!_"

"How many times do I have to tell you that I _wasn't lying?_" he exclaimed. "You asked if we were dating, and I said no! That was the _truth!_"

"It was _half _of the truth, Hyde! You may not have directly lied to me, but you made me believe something that wasn't true, and that's _just as bad!_" She shook her head bitterly and added, "I can't believe I _trusted you. _I am _such _an idiot!"

"You and I weren't _together, _I didn't _lie to you, _and _you _hooked up with _Kelso! _It sounds to me like we're pretty fucking even!"

"I seem to recall you calling me your _girlfriend _before I left," she told him bitterly, her voice dripping venom.

He stared at her, a defeated look in his eyes as he whispered in a hushed, painful tone, "You didn't want to be with me."

She fought to keep her glare up, because on the inside, she was breaking. She wanted nothing more than to wrap him in her arms and assure him of how much she loved him. But she couldn't do that— not now. She forced herself to look in his beautiful, blue eyes and said earnestly, "That's because I knew you'd do something like this." When she saw the expression in his eyes becoming even more mournful, she couldn't keep up the eye contact. She looked away from him and instead down at the couch.

Hyde watched the side of her face for a moment before standing in front of her and gently grabbing her chin, forcing their eyes to once again meet. He scanned her face for a moment, watching her warm, brown eyes match the expression in his and whispered, "I'm so, so sorry, Chris. It was a mistake."

Chris forced his hand away from her face by smacking his wrist, then continued staring down at the couch's tattered material. Truth be told, she could've gotten lost in his eyes and stayed there forever— but she didn't want him to see the effect he had on her. Not after what he did.

Hyde, however, wasn't going to let her get away that easily. He was sick of her thinking he didn't care— because the reality of the situation was that he did care for her. He cared for her more than he'd cared for any of the other girls he'd been with put together. He snaked a hand around her waist and pulled her in close before resting his forehead against hers. He inhales deeply, intoxicated by her presence. His mouth was so close to hers that he had to fight the urge to kiss her— but he forced himself not to. That would ruin everything. He looked directly into her eyes, which were mere centimeters away from his as he whispered, "I'm serious, Chris… It was a mistake. I—"

"All I can understand is that you lied to me," she interrupted. "Honestly, I can't even wrap my head around this. I spent all day yesterday trying to, and I…" Her mind flashed back to how she'd spent the day, lying in a ball miserably, and her eyes welled up. She pressed her lips to his softly before whispering, "I'm sorry, Hyde. And I… I really like you; more than I've ever liked anyone else. But I trusted you, and you broke that."

She pressed her lips to his again for what she was sure what would be the last time and told him, "Sorry isn't going to be enough this time." She pulled her face away from his and looked at him for a moment. She turned away when she felt she could hold it in anymore. She got to her feet and began to walk out of the basement with tears streaming down her face.

"Chris—" The door slammed, cutting off what Hyde was about to say. He stared at the door for a minute or two, waiting for her to come back in. When it became apparent that she wouldn't, he sighed and slunk into his room, deciding against doing anything else for the day. He just wanted to sit, listen to his Zeppelin, and forget the world around him.

* * *

_**A/N: Soo? Thoughts? (: And maybe I went a little OOC with Hyde, but if you watch the episode I mentioned in the first author's note for this chapter, he was like this in the episode with Jackie, so that's how I had him for this whole chapter. I think the fighting kind of evened it out, but I don't know. I don't care. I love this chapter. :D**_

_**Review? :D**_


	25. Chapter 25

_**Author's Note: I'm a quarter of the way to a hundred chapters! Holy baby jesus! Obviously I'm not going that far with this story, and it'll probably be at a close before it hits thirty. Depressing; isn't it? But I'm having a hell of a lot of fun writing this, so it's awesome! :D But I have to give an insane amount of credit to whisperinginthewind; she gave me so many ideas for last chapter and the ones following that this story has become as much hers as it is mine! I love you:D**_

_**Review response time! :D**_

—_**Shippolove844: I mentioned already that your constant support is pretty much what keeps me going, right? Because it is. You're freakin' awesome:D**_

—_**outsiders83: Yay! I'm, so glad you liked it. :D You reviews mean so much to me!**_

_**Keep the reviews coming, guys!**_

* * *

"Can we change the subject, please," Hyde demanded emotionlessly as he took another swig of his pop.

"I'm just saying, man, it's been two weeks," Kelso said. "I've seen her twice, and both times she was being boring and was completely covered up. I miss being able to stare at her boobs!"

"Hey, Kelso," Hyde piped up. The moment Kelso's head swiveled to face him, Hyde's fist shot out and connected with the moron's shoulder. "Shut up."

"What do you care?" Donna demanded of Hyde. The gang all turned to face her as Hyde's jaw clenched. She ignored everyone but the resident 'fro-boy as she went on to rave, "You pretend like you don't care about her _all the freaking time, _and it's killing you _both! _She's been moping in our room _nonstop _for the past half of a month, and it's all _your _stupid fault! If you hadn't gone and fucked Jackie, none of this would be happening! So goddammit, Hyde, you are going to go over there and _fix this _before I kick your ass!"

He stared at her incredulously for a moment, shocked into silence by her outburst. As it turned out he didn't have to say anything, because before he could even open his mouth Kelso cut in, "You did it with Jackie?"

"That's not important right now, Kelso," the vicious redhead seethed, pointing towards the door and glaring at Hyde. "Go. Clean up your mess."

Hyde cast a look over at Donna skeptically, silently asking if she _actually _expected him to go. When Donna's expression didn't waver, Hyde realized that she was serious about the whole 'kicking his ass' thing. He scowled and got to his feet before storming out the door.

As he trudged across the driveway from the Formans' to the Pinciottis', he felt himself growing less and less angry towards Donna and more towards himself. He scowled when he realized how stupid he was for hurting her the way he did; all he wanted right now was for her to be happy. He decided that he was fine with whatever her reaction would be to him. He would be fine with her hitting him and screaming and yelling at him, so long as he managed to get her out of her room. He didn't care if she was with him or not so long as she was happy.

He shuddered when he realized how much he cared about her. He'd never been like this with a girl before. He'd always either just wanted to get in their pants or, in Donna's case, he didn't care if she was happy so long as they were together. The fact that he didn't have selfish motives this time scared the shit out of him.

He approached the house and went up to her room without knocking on either door. He turned the doorknob and stepped inside the dark room. His gaze immediately fell on the miserable ball of a person that was lying in Chris's bed. Hyde felt a surge of pain drive through him as he stared at her. Eventually, Chris looked up to see who the intruder was. Upon seeing Hyde, she sat upright and wiped her eyes with her hands. She gave him an angry glare and demanded, "What do _you _want?"

Hyde stared at her, the act not fooling him for a moment. He looked into her eyes for a moment before whispering, "Listen, Chris—"

"I'm going for a walk," she told him, cutting him off briskly. He remained silent as he watched her write out a note for Donna telling her where she'd gone. Hyde recalled a previous conversation they'd had where Chris had explained to him the purpose of the notes— Chris had originally written them out in case Domino got to her so that people would know when and where to start looking, but now she did it more out of habit than anything. He watched her furious scribbles and then followed her out the door. He had taken all of five steps out through the backyard before Chris called over her shoulder, "Hyde… please don't follow me."

Hyde debated internally for a moment before he nodded. She hadn't bothered looking back at him while or after she spoke, so he knew his nod went unseen. He decided to let her have her space and turned back, returning to the gang and the basement. He received angry glances from Donna when he entered, but took no mind of it as he slipped on his shades and returned to his usual seat.

* * *

Donna stepped into her house and walked into her room, hoping that Chris was still there. When she saw the girl sitting down and brushing her hair, a smile appeared on Donna's face. She let her hope get the best of her and said, "Hey."

Chris smiled up at her roommate and said a weak, "Hi, Donna."

Donna plopped down on her bed and watched Chris brush out her locks before asking, "You feeling any better?"

"Hyde came by before. He wanted to talk to me." Chris glanced up at Donna and asked, "Why'd you make him come over?"

Donna blushed, kind of embarrassed that her plot was so see-through. "I was mad. I figured that since Hyde made you upset, he'd be the only one to fix it. I guess not, huh?"

"Nope," Chris agreed sadly. She stared at herself in the mirror before biting her lip and saying softly, "I don't think he _can _fix it. He messed up, Donna. He messed up _really _badly."

Donna considered that for a moment before letting out a soft sigh and saying, "Alright, well, I have to go back to the Formans'. I promised them I'd go for dinner." She paused before asking with slight hesitation, "Do you want to come?"

Chris shook her head rapidly. She knew that she was not yet ready to face the gang. "No, it's alright. Go without me."

"I might stay the night," Donna told her truthfully. She realized that Chris might not want to be alone and added, "Are you okay with that? You don't mind?"

"No. Go ahead. I'll be fine." Chris forced a brave smile to return to her face, and she waved to her roommate. She waited only a few minutes after Donna had gone to slip outside herself, letting the cool air soothe her as she walked away.

* * *

The next morning, Donna awoke in Eric's arm with a smile on her face. He looked down at her and kissed the top of her head. "Good morning," they said at the same time. They laughed at each other and then lazily got out of bed. Donna looked at the clock to make sure it was late enough that she wouldn't be suspected of staying over before walking down the stairs with her boyfriend at her heels. She glanced around at the early-afternoon sun and told Kitty and Red, "Good morning."

Red jerked his thumb at the door and commanded, "Go back to your own house. I don't need a bunch of stupid kids ruining _my _morning."

Donna laughed and went up to her room, then looked around expectantly. She frowned when she didn't see Chris, and then headed over to the desk where Chris usually left her notes. When Donna didn't see one, she felt worry creep up on her and ran into the Basement. She stared into Hyde's face and announced gravely, "I can't find Chris."

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_**A/N: So I cut it off short because I was eager to write this out, haha. :D I promise next chapter will be up within a few days. Lemme know what you think!**_

_**Review? :D**_


	26. Chapter 26

_**Author's Note: This idea was thought up completely by whisperinginthewind. I only wrote it out. So yeah(:**_

_**In addition, there is, in fact, a difference between a whore and a slut. Whore:**_ _**an offensive term for a prostitute. Slut: an offensive term for a woman thought to be sexually promiscuous. **_

_**And in case you guys forgot, Domino's real name is Paul Ramirez.**_

_**Just thought I'd clear that up before we go on with the show(:**_

_**OH WAIT. I almost forgot to mention: This is a mad short chapter. It's more of a suspense-builder than anything(:**_

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_**Review response time! :D**_

—_**shoppolove844: I'm glad I can make you happy! :D And, well, I'll guess you'll see how Chris fared in this chapter!**_

—_**outsiders83: Agreed! I mean, just the idea of him having the slightest injury makes me want to cry. I love him too much333**_

—_**TL22: I'm glad you enjoyed it! :D**_

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Hyde's head immediately swiveled to face Donna. His face was hard and impassive as he demanded gravely, "What do you mean, you can't find Chris?"

Donna shook her head and said, "She was there last night, before I came back over here… But then… I haven't seen her since!"

"Was she in bed last night?" he asked immediately. Given his past, he knew all of the questions to ask when there was somebody gone astray. When Donna's cheeks flushed and she looked away, he sighed and guessed, "You stayed over?"

She nodded, then sat on the couch and placed her head in her hands. "I didn't think she'd freaking _disappear!_"

"Maybe she didn't, man," Hyde responded, trying to keep a level head amidst his worry and fear. "Maybe she just went for a walk, or stayed at a friend's."

"We _are _her friends," Donna corrected him. She looked into his eyes which were (for once) not covered by his shades. "Besides, she would've left me a note. She _always _leaves me a note, in case—"

"In case Domino came back," he finished for her with a small nod. He'd already heard the story. When Chris moved in with Donna, she'd been terrified. She was unsure of how the trial was going to go, and she wasn't quite aware of how safe she would be. She had been so sure that Domino would come and kill her that she got into the habit of writing out notes. She would list when she left, where she was going, and when she would be back by. That way, if Domino ever got to her, people would know to start looking. He snapped out of it and looked up at Donna before forcing the emotion out of his voice and saying calmly, "Maybe she went to a bar and stayed over at some guy's house. I'm sure she wouldn't write _that _up."

"She's not a slut, Hyde," Donna snapped, the anger she felt displayed on her face. She was unable to see through his level-headed façade, and it was infuriating her. "She wouldn't do something like that."

"She kind of _is _a slut," Hyde acknowledged truthfully. He lo— _did not hate _her, and would never badmouth her, but facts were facts. And the fact of the matter was that he had kissed almost every guy in Point Place at that kissing booth. "She's not a whore," he added. "But she's _definitely _a slut."

Donna pursed her lips together, a habit she'd picked up from her AWOL roommate. She didn't want to agree with Hyde, but she couldn't exactly deny it, either. She shook her head and responded, "Her love life is not the issue right now. The issue is that she could possibly be lying dead in a ditch somewhere!"

Hyde was internally having the same concerns. What if she _was _hurt? What if she had gone out for a breath of air and got taken advantage of by some drunken bastards? What if one of Domino's friends came back to avenge him? He forced himself to, as per usual, push his feelings aside and stay indifferent. "Calm down, man. She's probably—"

Eric ran down at that moment and demanded, "Guys, we need Chris to get her ass over here _right now._"

Donna looked at her boyfriend and responded, "We don't know where she is, Eric. She's just… gone."

His eyes widened as he looked between the two solemn basement buddies and repeated the only phrase he could manage to think of: "Oh, shit. Oh shit. Oh, shit, shit, shit."

Hyde's eyes narrowed as he looked at his best friend. What the hell was he blabbering on about now? Was he _trying _to make his composure snap? "Spit it out, Foreplay," he snarled viciously. He normally wouldn't have been so harsh, but he was already worried enough as it is without Eric dumping more on his shoulders.

"I— I gotta tell Red," was all Eric said before dashing up the stairs. Donna and Hyde shared a look before following him into the kitchen, where they found him already holding a conversation with Red. He was looking his father in the face as he stuttered, "W-we don't know where Chris is."

The color visibly drained from Red's face as he jumped to his feet and roared, "Get the foreign kid and the moron. We're all going to go out and look."

Hyde stared at the man who had taken him in when he had nowhere else to go; the man who always controlled his fear; the man who was now quaking in his shoes. Hyde stared up at him and with a slightly wavering voice, "Red… what's going on?"

He stared into the uncovered eyes of the most tolerable kid in the gang and said gravely, "Paul."

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_**A/N: Oooh, another cliffy! :D Enjoyyy the suspense… I have no idea when the next chapter will be up. Whisperinginthewind and I have already planned it out, but I've been busy lately so I make no promises about when I'll type it up.**_

_**I love all of you for reading.**_

_**Review?(:**_


	27. Chapter 27

_**Author's Note: This is another mad short chapter, but once again, I liked the place I cut it off at. So yeah. :D**_

_**Once again, this idea was fueled by whisperinginthewind. I merely wrote it out. :D**_

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_**Review response time! :D**_

—_**Mega Awesome Marx: First of all, I love you. Second of all, you don't text me enough. Third of all, thanks for reviewing. Last but not least… I KNOW! DOMINO SCARES ME D:**_

—_**Shippolove844: Sorry! I had to end it there because, well, I wanted it to be a cliffhanger. Thanks for reviewing! :D**_

—_**Outsiders83: Ahhh yay! :D I'm glad you liked it! :D**_

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_**Now… on to the show! :D**_

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Once the gang had gathered around the Formans' kitchen, Red began to give out assignments for the search parties. "Jackie and Donna, you guys look towards the north part of town. Fez and Kelso, you guys go south. Kitty and I will go west, and Eric and Hyde—"

"Red, if you don't mind, I'd rather go by myself," Hyde cut him off tightly. His face was grim, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to hold in his worry for much longer.

Red stared at his over-controlled expression and nodded briefly. Hyde knew Chris better than anyone else, and Red was sure that if anybody was going to find her, it would be him. He also knew that Hyde was a man— and in Red's mind, true men never displayed emotion. At least, not around people. He completely understood Hyde's unwillingness to reveal his feelings in front of others. "Alright, fine. You can look around the center of town. Eric, you can go east by yourself. Got it?"

When everybody was clear on what they were supposed to do, they dispersed and went their separate ways. Hyde stood in the kitchen for a little while longer, contemplating when Chris could be. He thought of going, to the Hub, but decided against it because that was sure to be the first place Eric looked. He immediately ruled out the water tower, because Chris hadn't been there since—

_The water tower. _Of course she would have gone to the water tower! That was her go-to place whenever she used to be upset. Besides, it was the least likely place for her to be. Chris was smart enough to go wherever the chance of her being found was the slightest. Being as Domino had attacked her there, nobody would think to go where such bad memories lay.

Hyde left the kitchen and began walking towards the water tower. A frown etched itself onto his face as he got closer and closer to his destination— what if he was too late? What if Domino had gotten to her already, and he was just wasting time by going to the water tower? What if…

Hyde's walk broke into a full-out sprint as his worry threatened to overcome his entire being. He managed to make it all the way to the tower without stopping, and he stared up at it with an enormous scowl on his face. He had to look pissed, not concerned, in case she really _was _there.

He jumped up onto the ladder and began hauling himself up. Every step he took made his heart beat faster and faster until he thought it was going to jump out of his chest. He stepped onto the platform he and the gang used to hang out on and felt a sigh of relief flood through his body. His angry facial expression completely dissolved, and his uncontrollable happiness at her safety replaced it.

Chris was sitting with her feet dangling off the edge of the tower. She was staring out at the town, but her eyes were glazed over. He could tell that she wasn't actually seeing anything she looked at. She was too far gone in her own thoughts. He took a few steps closer to her, and her head snapped to the side to face him. When she saw it was him, she turned back out to the twinkling lights of Point Place. Her lips downturned slightly as she asked, "What do you want, Hyde?"

He lowered himself to a sitting position beside her and debated how much to tell her. Should he tell her about Domino? Should he force her back to the Formans'? He decided to keep it simple and simply said, "Red threw us all into search parties to find you. I— _everyone _was worried about you."

Chris's frown deepened, and she stared down at the ground instead of out at the lights. She let out a heavy sigh as she whispered, "Why would anybody want to look for me? I'm nothing. I'm garbage. I… I'm just some stupid chick from California. None of you guys should have worried. You're all probably better off without me, anyway."

Hyde stared at her with a mixture of shock and regret on his face. How could she say that? How could she even _think _that way? She was… Well, fuck, she was practically perfect. He couldn't believe that she honestly didn't see anything good in herself. When a single tear rolled down her cheek, he realized how deeply she believed it at the moment. He looked at her and said, "Chris, you are _not _nothing. You're smart, you're hot, you're evil when you want to be, you're an angel when you don't, you're _bad-frickin'-ass, _you're into all of the shit I am, and… well, you're basically fucking perfect."

Chris turned back to face him after a moment and studied his face. This was the face of a liar, a stoner, a badass, a rebel, and a horndog. But it was also the face the man of her dreams, no matter how fucked up that might be. She leaned in to kiss him, and grinned when he leaned in as well. She waited until they were about a half of an inch away to inform him, "You know, you just told me you loved me."

He rolled his eyes at her and smiled a little bit before retorting, "Yeah, well, I'm doing a lot of shit I don't usually do tonight. Don't get too used to it."

Chris let out a laugh, put her hand on the back of his head, and pulled him in to close the remaining distance between their lips.

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_**A/N: A little anti-climactic, I know, but deal with it! We all needed a little bit of fluff after all of that drama:D**_

_**Reviewww pleasee? :D**_


	28. Chapter 28

_**Author's Note: For once, this chapter is almost all my idea. ;D With help from, of course, the oh-so-lovely whisperinginthewind :D**_

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_**Review response time!**_

—_**whisperinginthewind: You reviewed! (insert one of our fail hearts here) I love you so much for helping me out with this story. You have no idea. (: And YAY! I'm so glad that you liked that part(: Hyde is such a perfect character that I'm always scared I'll go OOC and ruin him..!**_

—_**shippolove844: I'm happy they kissed, too! :D**_

—_**TL22: I rather liked that part as well, haha:D And he'll be back shortly!**_

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"Never again," Hyde repeated after Chris, a small trace of a smile on his face. She let out a wide grin and pressed her lips to his. She was so happy she had him, and she would do everything in her power to make sure she never lost him again.

Their kiss was cut off short when the first search party to come back, Fez and Kelso, walked in. Fez stared at the two for a moment before demanding, "What the hell? We have searched for hours, and you have been in the kitchen the whole time!"

Hyde pulled away from Chris's kiss and leaned back in his chair, putting his guard back up within a second. He looked down at his watch and cocked an eyebrow at the foreigner as he informed him, "Fez, it's only been forty-five minutes."

Kelso walked over to the table where the couple sat and held out his arms. He smiled his typical goofy grin and exclaimed, "C'mere!"

Chris let out a laugh and got to her feet. She almost tripped over Kelso's shoes as she walked over to him and welcomed his embrace. He squeezed her tightly to his chest, and she groaned, "Kelso…"

Hyde felt his insides churn at how close together Chris and Kelso were. He snapped his gaze down from how tightly they were pressed together and glared at Kelso's hands, which were gradually making their way down her back. "Hands off, dillhole," Hyde growled, glad for a reason to break up the hug. Under the threat of an incoming punch, Kelso immediately shoved Chris away from his body. She stumbled, but Hyde leaped to his feet and caught her arm before she could fall. Chris smiled at him thankfully, but Kelso burst out laughing.

"Wow, Hyde! You really, uh, seem to _care _about her!" Kelso spoke up, a wide grin spreading across his face as a laugh escaped his throat.

When Fez joined the laughter, Hyde released Chris's arm like it was piping hot. He glared at his friends and responded angrily, "I don't _care _about anyone!" Chris cocked an eyebrow at Hyde's denial of feelings and a small smile escaped her lips. What he'd just said completely contradicted absolutely everything he had ever told her (in private). Hyde's eyes shifted over to her, and he scowled at her when he saw her bemused smirk. His eyes shot back to the guys as he added, "And anyone who says different is going to get their ass kicked."

Chris pouted when he said that, mocking his threat. Fez noticed her changed facial expression and, taking it as genuine, said, "If you want a shoulder to cry on… I have two."

Kelso rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Come _on _Fez. Don't be dumb. You know that I'm her first choice."

"Get bent," Chris retorted in a fashion much like Hyde's. The corner of his lip twitched upwards when he noted that fact. She looked at his face and added, "There's no chance in hell I'd ever do anything with _any _of you guys."

Hyde looked at her and cocked an eyebrow, silently asking if she meant it. She crossed her arms over her chest and imitated his facial expression. Kelso looked between the two and laughed. "Kids," he scoffed, then made his way out of the kitchen and to the basement. Fez quickly followed behind, leaving the young couple alone.

"So," Hyde said conversationally, "I hear I'm not getting any?"

"So," Chris mocked him conversationally, "I hear you don't care about me?"

Hyde looked at her and barely refrained from letting out a sigh, knowing that she was upset about what he said. He shrugged at her indifferently and responded, "I don't know where you might've heard that from."

"Maybe the ass standing in front of me," she retorted with a bitter undertone. Her ploy to act hurt was ruined by the smile forming on her face. Sure, she was upset, but she didn't want to overreact and ruin their relationship already.

He shook his head incredulously before setting his gaze on his girlfriend's face. He looked at her calmly and informed her, "Come on. I can't ruin my image."

Chris's small smile turned to a full-out grin as she laughed at his response. She couldn't help it. She rolled her eyes at him and agreed sarcastically, "Yeah. Wouldn't want to do _that, _now, would we?"

"Of course not." He smiled at her and leaned in for another kiss when Donna and Jackie walked in.

Jackie and Donna stood at the door to the kitchen and watched them kiss for a few seconds. When the couple broke apart they were all smiles, which was when Jackie decided to speak up and ruin their moment. "Oh, great. The whore's back."

Chris barely skipped a beat before saying, "Jackie, it's really annoying how you always announce your own presence. You should try shutting your mouth for once." Jackie gaped at the girl who had rarely fought back while Donna laughed at Jackie's expression. Hyde was looking at Chris with admiration that he'd never felt towards her before. Chris turned back to him and grinned at the look on his face. "You've taught me well."

He pressed his mouth to hers again, expressing his pride with his lips. Just as he did, Kitty and Red walked in. Hyde looked up and demanded, "Does everybody always have to walk in the second we kiss?"

"Oh my god, Chris, you're alright!" Kitty ran over and wrapped Chris in a tight embrace, removing her from Hyde's. Chris laughed and hugged the small woman, happy to see her. She's missed them.

"You had us worried sick! What the _hell _were you thinking?" Red demanded of Chris. He glared at her, but she merely laughed and threw her arms around his middle.

"I missed you, too," she informed him, her grin widening.

He began trying to stumble through a response, but he wound up just hugging her back. He rubbed her back and pulled away, looking into her eyes as he commanded, "Don't scare us like that again. You had us worried as hell, especially being as—" Red caught Hyde's _'shut the fuck up' _look and clamped his mouth shut.

"Especially being as _what?_" she asked skeptically, frowning at him. She whirled around to face Hyde and demanded, "What are you guys keeping from me?"

Kitty looked at Chris and said, "Um, honey… I don't know how to tell you this, but… Paul got out." She stared at the girl's shocked expression and let out one of her nervous laughs.

Chris stood frozen in place, unsure of how to react to the news. Jackie stared at her and crossed her arms over her chest, unimpressed by the news. Donna, however, walked over and put her arms around Chris. "I'm so sorry," she said.

Chris shook her head, unable to wrap her head around this unexpected turn of events. She looked around and felt her eyes fill with tears as a replay of every time he'd ever hit her flashed before her eyes. She turned around wrapped her arms around Donna, burying her face in her shoulder and letingt out a choked sob.

Donna held Chris as Kitty joined onto them, making it into a group hug. Hyde watched Chris dissolve into tears and frowned. He eyed the way she was clinging to Donna and Kitty and felt a small pang of jealousy. He kind of almost wanted it to be _him_ she was crying on. He waved that thought away and instead focused on what he was going to do to keep Chris from getting hurt.

Well, he could go out and find Domino. But that would result in his getting killed and the psychopath getting pissed and hunting down Chris faster. So no, that wouldn't work.

He could never leave her side. That way, Domino would have to go through him first, which would leave Chris with extra time to get away. But if Domino took a while getting to them, Chris might get sick of his clinginess and get rid of him.

Hyde could think of no other solutions, so he decided that he would have to go with the second one. The moment after he'd made up his mind he heard Chris mumble into Donna's shoulder, "I'm moving out."

He stared at her incredulously and demanded calmly, "What did you just say?"

Chris wiped her eyes and looked at him with a blank expression on her face— she obviously hadn't meant to say it aloud. She blinked a few times as she cleared her mind before croaking a little louder, "I'm moving out of the Pinciottis'." Everybody opened their mouths to object, but before anyone could get a word in Chris went on, "I can't make you guys go through this with me. I mean, I know I'll still have your support and you guys will help me through this, but if Domino ever _does _wind up coming for me… I don't want him to hurt any of you guys, too."

"Chris, that's fucking ridiculous," Hyde informed her angrily, his fists clenching at his sides as anger boiled within him. She glared at him, and he shut his mouth. He didn't want to make a complete ass of himself in front of everybody.

Kitty caught his facial expression and knew that he would want to talk to Chris by himself. She grabbed Red's arm and began pulling him into the living room. "Let's leave the kids alone," she told him.

Donna shot an angry look at Chris and informed her, "We are _not _done talking about this, Christina." Chris winced at the use of her full name, and Donna and Jackie made their way into the basement.

Chris let out a sigh and wiped away her tears, determined to stop their flow. She took a seat at the kitchen and prompted him, "Go on. Let it out."

"It's not safe," he said simply, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back against the counter.

"It's safer for Donna. Safer for Bob. And Eric and Red and Kitty," she argued. When his only response was to scowl, she frowned at him and added, "Okay, listen. Would you rather lose me, or lose me _and _your best friend _and _your family?"

He walked over to the kitchen table and sat next to her. He stared at her face, examining it as if for the last time. His face hardened as he told her gravely, "It doesn't matter what I would rather, because I'm not losing any of you."

She sighed and slid out of her seat and onto his lap. She put her arms around his neck and said, "See, _this _is how I like you. Bullet-free. _Safe. _Please don't make me worry during my—"

"If you say 'last days', Chris, I swear to God, _I _will kill you," he threatened. He once again scanned her face before asking, "Are you really set on this whole moving thing?"

"Are you really set on not losing me?" she countered, poking his chest with her finger.

"Yeah," he said slowly, looking down at the floor as he considered what he was going to say next. He thought it through for a few moments before looking back up at her face and adding, "Which is why I'm going to stay with you."

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_**A/N: So folks, there ya have it. Chapter twenty-eight is… complete! There will probably be about three to five chapters after this one. We're getting closer to the end, chillunz! :D**_

_**Lemme know what you think in a review? :D**_


	29. Chapter 29

_**Author's Note: I rewrote chapter two (I didn't change anything; I just made it better), so if you guys wanted to check that out, it'd be pretty chill:D**_

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_**Review response time!**_

—_**Mega Awesome Marx: You realize that I love you, right? 'Cause I do. A lot.**_

—_**Shippolove844: I'm sad that it's almost over, too! I'm going to miss this story, haha. And I love Red, too! He was one of my favorites on the show. …Wait, who am I kidding? They were ALL my favorites. (Except for Donna. And Randy. And Bob. And Midge. And Pam. And, and, and…)**_

—_**whisperinginthewind: As per usual, my response is that I love you and that you're amazing for helping me out so much with this story (insert fail heart here)**_

—_**MsChanandaler: I can't believe you spent that much time on my story! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! I appreciate it so much! :D**_

—_**jaygal11: I know. Hyde is my absolute favorite person of all freakin' time (insert heart here). And thank you so much! I'm so glad you like this(:**_

—_**TL22: Yay! It doesn't matter how many times you say it; I'll never get tired of hearing it:D And another yay! I'm so glad I wrote the scene well. I've been trying really hard to work on my descriptiveness!**_

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Hyde let out a yawn as he sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes to rid them of the morning's weariness. He removed his hands from his face and opened his eyes, but frowned when he looked around. Where was he? And who the hell was next to him?

He looked over and saw a girl with long, dirty blonde hair splayed across her pillow. She was lying on her stomach, and her face was facing away from him. He studied her figure for a moment, trying to place who she might be. He couldn't help but wonder how he managed to fuck up so badly… again.

He glanced around the bedroom again, which was when everything came back to him. He was in an apartment above the Hub. He blinked his eyes three times and looked back down at the girl next to him. He let out an uncharacteristic grin when he realized that he _hadn't _fucked up. The girl he woke up to was, _finally, _Chris.

He slipped out of bed as carefully as he could so as not to wake her. He walked his way over to where he remembered the living room and started searching through boxes, looking for the box labeled _'kitchen'. _He looked through almost every box before finally finding the one he wanted. He carried it over to the room in which it belonged and put it onto one of the countertops. He rummaged through it and began putting various things away: silverware, Tupperware, alcohol, and various kitchen appliances all went into drawers and cabinets until he finally found what he'd been searching for— the coffee maker. He pulled it out and set it up on the counter before pulling two mugs out of the cabinet where he'd just placed them. He made himself a cup of coffee and left one next to the coffee maker in case Chris was going to want one. He then sat up on the countertop and sipped at the steaming liquid in his hand.

He heard light footsteps behind him and turned around to see Chris stumbling out of her room, incoherent through her mask of sleep. She walked all of about three steps before she noticed Hyde and stopped in her tracks. She stared at him through her mess of hair in a dumbfounded fashion, every bit as confused about last night as he had been. She paused and when realization dawned on her, she said nothing. She merely pointed to his neck and said sarcastically, "Nice hickey."

"Shit happens," he remarked with a smirk on his face. He gestured over to her mug on the counter and added, "Coffee's over there if you want it."

She cocked an eyebrow and made her way into the kitchen slowly. She took her first sip of coffee— black; just the way she liked it— and frowned a bit when she saw the empty box sitting next to Hyde. "You unpacked?" she asked in surprise.

"Just the kitchen." He paused before deciding to tack on, "Don't get used to it, man. I'm only helpful when I'm getting some."

"Don't get used to it, man," she retorted mockingly. "You're only getting any if you're helpful."

He scowled at her for a moment and informed her with a jokingly angry undertone, "You always friggen twist my words around."

"It's what girlfriends are for, Hyde," she reminded him before leaning forward and planting a small kiss on his lips. She pulled away after a second and asked, "Are you growing a _beard?_"

"Thinking about it," he admitted, stroking the stubble that was on his chin. He looked at her and added, "But if you have a problem with it… Wait, what am I saying? I don't care."

Chris grinned at him and rolled her eyes. Previously that comment might have upset her, but she was getting more and more used to his acting like an asshole. She cupped his chin in her hand and stroked it with her thumb before musing, "I think I might actually really like you with a beard."

Hyde's left eyebrow shot up. He stared at his girlfriend incredulously as he inquired, "Are you trying to turn me off of the idea?"

Chris rolled her eyes at him once again and took her last sip of coffee. She set the mug down in the sink and said, "Thanks for the coffee." She paused and looked around the scrungy-looking space and added, "I think I'm going to go to the store and buy some food. We have almost nothing."

Hyde froze and stared at her for a moment. When he looked at her he saw in his mind a million different scenarios, all of which resulted in the same thing: her death. He kept imagining seeing her lying on the floor; at the hospital; in a casket…

"Hyde?"

He shook himself out of it and fought to keep a scowl from overtaking his features. His eyes never left her face as he jumped off of the counter and announced, "I'll come with you."

She gazed at him skeptically, asking with her eyes if he _really _wanted to come. She hesitated for a moment before saying uncertainly, "Um… sure. You can come."

He felt the immense urge to tell her that it hadn't been a question, but he decided that it was best to keep his mouth shut. He didn't want her getting pissed off this early in his plan. "Are we leaving now, or later?"

"I need to make myself look presentable, so we'll probably go in like an half an hour," she told him. When he gave her a puzzled look— _how the hell did it take that long for somebody to get ready?— _she responded simply, "I take long showers." He nodded his understanding. She looked at him, smirked, and said, "You can unpack while I get ready."

He shook his head and informed her, "You're making me work. A lot. So you'd better lose your virginity soon."

A grin appeared on her face as she nodded and said, "Sure, why not? After we go to the store I'll go see if Kelso has any plans."

Hyde lunged at her and wrapped her in his arms in a rare direct display of affection. He kissed the top of her head and rested his chin on her shoulder as he whispered in her ear, "You go call up Kelso, and I'll check in with Jackie."

"Low freaking _blow, _man!" Chris pulled out of his grasp and hit his chest playfully. "That was _not _kind."

"I meant every word of it," he swore, then planted a kiss on her lips. He placed his hands on her hips and told her, "I'll probably also kill the both of you."

"My, my, you're awfully abusive today!" she chirped happily. She kissed him softly and told him, "I'm going to go take a shower now. Get to work."

"Can't I just come with you?" he asked, trailing behind her slowly. He already knew what the answer would be, but it became definite when he heard her laugh and watched the door swing shut. He shrugged it off and went to the boxes again. There weren't very many of them— probably about six or seven, and none were very large. He moved over to the biggest one and lifted it, surprised at how light it was. He set it on the countertop next to the one he'd already unpacked. He opened the box and saw that it was full of Chris's clothes. He dropped it on the floor and kicked it over towards the bedroom door.

He was halfway through carrying over another box when he froze. _What the hell was he doing? _Was he really just... doing what she asked? Without any grumbling or complaining? He dropped the box on the ground and winced when he heard something within it shatter. He bent to pick up the box and see what he'd broken, but quickly straightened himself up again. _Why did he care? _Maybe he should just—

Hyde shook his head, forcing himself out of his panic attack. He was being stupid. How was he supposed to protect Chris if he hightailed it every time he thought about the fact that they were in a relationship?

Chris walked out of the bedroom, fully dressed and ready to go. She grinned at him and said, "I made it quick for you. Ready to go?" She noticed his expression and frowned. "What's wrong?"

Hyde pointed down to the box and said, "I dropped your box. I think I might've broken something."

Chris squatted down and opened the box, looking through to see what he'd broken. She pulled out the broken pieces of glass and frowned. "My best friend from California gave me this when we met." She dropped the pieces back in the box and stood, brushing it off easily. "Oh, well. I guess it's garbage now."

"Sorry," Hyde lied. He watched her shake out her head, and a few drops of water sprung from her hair and onto his face. He wiped them off, and she laughed.

"We're even. Get your glasses and we'll go," she said. She knew that Hyde rarely went anywhere without his sunglasses. When he'd gotten them out of the bedroom and returned with them on his face, she smiled and pressed her lips to his. "Ready?"

"Let's go," he said gruffly, placing a protective arm around her waist. He led her out of the apartment and down to the Hub with a flat, expressionless face. Behind his shades he was staring down every stranger, silently daring them to even _try _and touch his chick. He was apprehensive the entire trip, tensing every time somebody came a little too close to them. If anybody so much as gave them a second glance, he would draw Chris a little closer against his side and glare at them.

He couldn't help it. His childhood paranoia had flared up again, making him think anybody and everyone was there to hurt him— or, in this case, his girlfriend. Anybody there could be working with or for Domino.

He would get her over Hyde's dead body.

* * *

_**A/N: So there's some of Hyde's protectiveness coming in… Whisperinginthewind, I hope this chapter sufficed for you. :D But if not, there's more where that came from!**_

_**Thanks for reading guys. I looove you3**_


	30. Chapter 30

_**Author's Note: Holy crap; we're at chapter thirty already!**_

_**Also, check out "Good Girls Bad Guys" by whisperinginthewind. She's helped me so much throughout this story and I want all of you to show her some mad support! Please? She definitely deserves it.**_

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—_**Mega Awesome Marx: Word up! They're so friggen cute together. (Insert heart)**_

—_**shippolove844: Awwww! Thank you so much! :D I'm glad you like the story enough to re-read it. :D**_

* * *

Chris approached her door slowly, shifting her half of the groceries so that they all rested in one arm. She lifted one knee to help balance them as she reached into her pocket to get the key to her apartment out.

Hyde came around the corner behind her and saw her struggling with her half of the groceries. A smile spread across his lips as he went over and took them from her. She looked at him and smiled thankfully, opening the door before taking back her bags.

He followed her to the counter and placed the bags he had originally been carrying next to hers. He walked over and flopped himself down on the couch, then began watching her put away the groceries. When she was done, she straightened up and stared at her boyfriend with a smile. She walked over at him and sat on his stomach, then looked down at his face and grinned at his bemused expression. "Hey."

"I never knew you were a top person," he commented with a wicked grin. She lightly tapped the back of her hand against his cheek and looked at him with mock sternness.

"How would you?" she asked confusedly, cocking her head to the side. "It's not like you're getting any."

He groaned exasperatedly at her little reminded, which made her laugh. Just as she began to reposition herself so that she could kiss him, the phone rang. Hyde let out another groan, and Chris laughed at him again. She found the effect she had on him to be quite amusing. She quickly pecked him on the lips before rolling off of his body and moving herself to where the phone rested on the wall.

"Hello?" She paused before her face turned white and she shifted uncomfortably. Hyde noticed this and immediately bolted upright. He stared at her intently as she went on to say, "…Oh. Alright."

"Who is it?" Hyde asked of her. She shook her head and went back to the conversation.

"Yeah… Yeah. …Uh-huh... Okay… I'll see you then." She hung up the phone before turning back to Hyde and addressing his question. "That was my mom."

His eyebrow shot up of its own accord, silently questioning what she just said. He processed this before checking, "And you're going to visit her?" He watched her nod and pursed his lips in a fashion much like hers. He debated this internally before shaking his head. All he could think of when he thought of Chris's mom— other than the time she practically tried to rape him— was that she was the woman who had let Domino in. she was, indirectly, the reason for Chris's turmoil. And he had a horrible feeling in his gut that if he let Chris visit, it would be the last time anybody ever heard from the girl again. "No."

"What do you mean, _no?_" Chris asked calmly, forcing herself to remain that way. She didn't want to flip out. Not yet, anyway.

"I mean that I don't want you going to see her," Hyde responded simply. He leaned against the back of his couch and crossed his arms over his chest, watching for the eruption he knew would come.

"You can't tell me what I can and can't do," she said, using all of her energy just to keep her voice level. She wouldn't do something stupid (again) and ruin their relationship (again).

"I'm pretty sure I just did," he retorted. He cocked an eyebrow at her, awaiting her next move. When all she did was purse her lips together and glare at him, he scowled. "Chris, you can't go."

"Why not?" she challenged.

Hyde paused for a moment, not quite sure of what he should say. He would not— _absolutely would not _tell her the reasoning behind it. How could he possibly tell her, straight to her face, that if she went she might die? He was sure she knew, but saying it aloud was a totally different story. If he said it, she would probably get mad at him for not trusting her. Or, worse, know that he cared. "Just trust me."

She frowned at him and inquired, "Why should I?" When she saw his expression falter for just a split second, she felt herself melt a little. His face, in that brief moment, showed all of his emotions. Sadness… fear… regret… _love. _She felt her heart ache and, in that moment, moved over to close the gap between them.

Hyde felt his heart race as Chris approached him— he knew that he'd lost his façade for a second there, and he could tell that she noticed. Her expression was unreadable, though, and he had no idea why she was coming to him. Probably to smack him, or to tell him off, or maybe even both.

Chris pressed her lips to his softly, taking him completely by surprise. He barely had time to respond before she pulled away and told him, "I love you, you know that?"

He sat there, speechless for a moment. He stared into her eyes and, instead of saying something stupid, leaned in and kissed her again. He paused for a brief moment before asking, "So you won't go?"

She paused for a few seconds, debating how to weasel her way around his question. She settled for grinning and pulling his head forward to meet hers. He placed his hands on her hips and leaned back, taking her response as a yes. She continued to kiss him as he fell into a laying position, but before things could go any further there was an obnoxious banging against the door. They didn't even have time to separate before Kelso stormed into the room.

"Hyde! Why isn't your ass at the—" He caught sight of the couple's position and nodded his head affirmatively. He let out a laugh as he exclaimed, "Ohhh! _That's _why your ass isn't at the basement." He waited silently for Hyde to get out from under his girlfriend, but when they didn't separate Kelso shouted, _"Dammit Hyde, get your ass to the basement!"_

Before Hyde could growl at Kelso to go away, Chris had gotten up off of him and was standing on her feet. She held out a hand down to him, which he reluctantly took. She helped haul him to his feet and laughed at the scowl on his face. "Don't worry; I'll still be here when you get back," she lied. "Go out and have fun."

"You don't want to come?" he asked, his brow furrowing. He wasn't too keen on the idea of leaving her alone by herself. Who knew what would happen while he was away?

"Nah. This place is a mess— I might as well get started on clearing it up." She caught sight of his indecisive look and sighed. "I'll lock the doors and the windows, and I'll stay inside. Really. I'll be just fine on my own for a few hours."

He nodded and planted a firm but gentle kiss on her lips before grabbing his Aviators and heading out the door. She watched the door close behind him and waited a few seconds before turning back to the phone and dialing an old familiar number.

"Mom? I can be there in five minutes."

* * *

Hyde walked back into the apartment and called, "Hey, Chris! Do you know where I left my jacket?" He heard no response and frowned as he walked straight back to the bedroom. "Chris?"

His frown deepened when he saw that she wasn't there. He felt his throat begin to constrict as he started to panic. Where was she? What had happened to her? He had only been gone for the amount of time it took to walk halfway to the Formans' and back— had Domino gotten to her? Already?

He walked back into the living room to grab the phone that was mounted on the wall when he realized how stupid he would sound. _Hi, Red? I went out and Chris isn't home. The maximum time she's been gone is five minutes. _He shook his head and had just sat on the couch when he noticed a folded up piece of paper on it.

_Hyde, _the front read. He cocked an eyebrow and opened it up to read the note his girlfriend had left behind for him. His eyes scanned it over and over again, trying to decipher its meaning. The paper had only three words other than his name:

_Don't get mad._

* * *

Chris stood at the front door to her house, shifting uncomfortable from foot to foot as she did so. The last time she was here, she was collecting her belongings to bring over to the Pinciottis'. She was in the middle of a heated debate with herself on whether or not to knock when the door swung open to reveal a _clothed _Shelly Steele. Chris looked at the woman who actually looked like a mother before inquiring, "What happened?"

"I'm off today," she said simply. She stepped back and gestured for Chris to come in. Daughter cautiously followed mother as they made their way to the kitchen. Shelly motioned towards the table, indicating that she wanted Chris to sit. She pursed her lips together and did so as she watched her mom pour coffee and set a mug in front of each of their places.

"So… Why'd you call?" Chris asked directly. She watched her mom take a sip of her drink before setting it down and letting out a sigh.

"What; a mother isn't allowed to miss her daughter?" Shelly caught sight of her daughter's skeptical look and laughed. She nodded and admitted, "Okay, yeah, I know. Drunken, stripping prostitutes aren't exactly the best mother figures. But look! I'm sober right now; aren't I?"

"For now," she agreed reluctantly. She shook her head before saying, "Listen, Mom. I only have a few minutes because I have to get home before my boyfriend does… Can you get to the point?"

"I'm a whore, and I get that. But you're also a slut." Shelly pressed her lips together and shook her head. "That came out wrong. Look, my point is that nobody is perfect. But I'm still your mom, and you're still my daughter."

Chris pursed her lips together again and looked up at the clock. "I have to get home." She hesitated for a brief second and when she saw her mother's downcast face added, "You have my number… Maybe you can call me up later so we can actually hang out?"

Shelly nodded and grinned what was probably the first non-provocative smile on her face in the past year. "Sounds good." She stood and walked over to the front door, holding it open for Chris. When she got there she froze and stared at her mom, who felt just as awkward. Shelly bit her lip and said, "I'm not used to this. What do we do now? Do we hug, or…?"

"I'm just as new to this as you are," Chris responded evenly, pursing her lips together. She paused before deciding, "How about we shake hands?"

"We're family, not business partners," Shelly informed her, but complied and held out her hand.

Chris stared at it and, after thinking of all the places that her hand had probably been within even the past hour or two, changed her mind. She shook her head and walked out the door. "Bye, Mom," she called over her shoulder.

Shelly frowned and shut the door, wondering if calling up Chris had really been the smartest move. They had never been even relatively close— why had she expected that to change?

"I don't care how bad she hates you," a voice hissed in her ear. "You're going to act like her best friend and _keep her coming around, _got it?" Shelly nodded weakly, and the lips at her ear pulled away. "Good. Now get upstairs."

Chris walked around the Hub and half-smiled, just like she did every time she came up to the stairs that led to her apartment. This was where Hyde had punched Domino in the face for hitting her. She shook her head and let out a full-on grin; even though _he _didn't say it often, she had no problem admitting her feelings to herself. Every time she thought of him and everything he'd done for her, her heart skipped a beat and she felt the overwhelming desire to hold him.

She let out a sigh, knowing that he wasn't going to be home— but it was, after all, for the best. He'd kill her if he knew she'd gone against him and visited her mom. She'd left a note just in case he had by some chance gotten home first, but she felt it in her heart that he wouldn't be there.

She frowned. She didn't want him to be home— she really didn't want a big fight to start up— but she needed him. She hadn't expected much out of her meeting with her mom, but it had still gotten her upset. She wasn't quite sure why, but it did.

Chris walked into the apartment with a heavy heart. She was halfway to her room to curl up in her bed when she heard a quiet, "Ahem."

She turned around to face whoever the noise had come from and sighed when she saw it was Hyde. "Hey."

"_Don't get mad?_" he quoted her. His eyes bore holes into her skin as he demanded, "You went to go see your mom, didn't you?" She nodded because she didn't have to energy to come up with a verbal response. He scowled and stated, "You told me you'd stay here."

"I never said that," she responded, her weariness shining through her voice. "I kissed you to shut you up, remember?"

His scowl deepened as he said, "I thought we agreed not to keep things from each other anymore. Isn't that the whole reason why we broke up in the first place? I seem to recall you saying, _'You didn't lie to me, but you made me believe something that wasn't true, and that's just as bad.' _Remember that?"

Chris flinched at his reminder of that dark time, and shook her head. "That's completely different, Hyde, and you know it."

"How is it different?" he demanded angrily. "I didn't lie, but I omitted the truth. So did you."

"What are you saying?" she asked. "Are you really telling me right now that you want to ruin everything that we have just because I went to go see my mom?"

He stared at her for a brief moment, unsure of how to say '_no' _without giving his feelings away. He was able to share his feelings with her, sure, but he was still uncomfortable doing it. Instead of giving her a half-ass answer (_whatever_) like he was inclined to do, he walked over and kissed her.

She smiled and leaned into his touch as they kissed. She drew back and told him, "I promise I won't scare you like that ever again."

"I wasn't scared," he lied, but instead of pursuing the argument he crashed his lips against hers again.

* * *

_**A/N: Sorry that took so long! I had absolutely zero motivation to write this out for some reason. :P**_

_**Please review— and don't forget to run over to whisperinginthewind's page to check out her story! :D**_


	31. Chapter 31

_**Author's Note: Sorry this took so long. Between the hurricane, a power outage, a grounding, and the start of my freshman year, I've had very minimal time to write. **_

_**This chapter is dedicated to my friend Anthony, who passed away on the sixteenth. Anthony, baby, I'm so sorry I didn't help you. I hope you know that you're loved, and I pray to god that you're happy up in paradise.**_

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_**Review Response Time:**_

—_**Jaygal11: Just wait…**_

—_**Whisperinginthewind: I love you. So much. Really. You're amazing. MV**_

—_**Shippolove844: I want him dead, too! He makes me very angry, haha. And I'm glad you liked how I portrayed Hyde..!**_

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Chris looked up at her boyfriend from where she lay under him, rolling her eyes at his antics. She cocked an eyebrow at him an inquired, "Can I please get out of bed?"

He looked down at her and smirked, finding her exasperation to be quite amusing. He deliberated his response for a moment before retorting, "Are you going to give me your virginity?" When her answer was to shake her head and smile, he pressed his lips to hers and whispered in her ear, "Please?"

"I'm not giving up, so there's no point in holding me hostage," she informed him, and he let out a groan. Just as she began to laugh at him, the phone rang. When he made no move to get up, she reminded him, "Hyde, one of us has to go answer the phone."

He sighed and finally removed his body from its hovering position over her. She planted a light kiss on his lips and went into the living room to answer the phone. "Hello?" She paused to hear the response before a grin lit up her face and she exclaimed, "Oh, hey!"

'_Is it your mom?' _Hyde mouthed to Chris. She shook her head and went back to the conversation. "I'm sorry; what was that? …Of course, Mrs. Forman! Hyde and I would love to come. …Alright, yeah. …Thank you so much for inviting us! …Okay. Bye!" Chris turned to Hyde and informed him, "We're going over to the Formans' for Thanksgiving tomorrow, and I volunteered you to help Kitty cook and set up the house."

He narrowed his eyes at her, debating whether or not she was kidding. "You wouldn't," he decided uncertainly.

"I wouldn't, but I did." When he opened her mouth to protest, she rolled her eyes and informed him, "Listen, Hyde— you and Mrs. Forman have been drifting apart recently, and I don't like it! Helping her out would be a great way for you guys to bond. She's like your freaking _mother, _for God's sake!"

He shook his head and scowled, ignoring how happy the idea of spending time with Kitty again made him. "I guess I can't back out of it, huh?"

Chris grinned and pressed her lips to his. "Nope!" she chirped. "And she's starting the cooking tonight, so you're going over there in an hour and staying overnight in your old room."

Hyde faked a scowl once again and demanded, "How did you determine all of this in a five-minute phone conversation?"

She grinned and informed him, "She talked a lot."

He cocked an eyebrow at her and said, "I think that all of this work deserves a little sex, don't you think?"

"Not really," she mused. A smile crept its way onto her face as she added, "You have to go food shopping, too, so I suggest you get going so that you're not late…"

The next morning was Thanksgiving Day. Chris stopped by her mother's place as planned to visit for about an hour in the morning. She chose the morning because it would give her mother plenty of time to get wasted after her departure and herself plenty of time to get ready to have dinner with all of the people she cared about.

She walked through the doorway without knocking or ringing the bell, because she had begun to feel almost at home there. She made her way over to the stairs and called up them, "Mom? Hey, I'm here! I brought you some wine!" She walked through the house and into the kitchen to set the bottle down on the counter, but froze in the doorway. The bottle dropped from her hand and landed on the floor, shattering into a million pieces and spilling wine all over the floor.

A familiar sadistic bastard sat at the kitchen table, a mug full of coffee in his hand. He took a sip and set it down on the counter before casting a grin up at the petrified girl. "Miss me?" he asked with a grin.

She backed up a few steps before turning and full-on sprinting away, knowing in her heart that she wouldn't make it. She had just reached the door and was just turning the knob when he caught up to her. He snaked his arm around her stomach and yanked her backwards. He then threw her to the ground and locked the door before turning back to her and placing a kick to her abdomen. She curled up into a ball and held herself tightly, but he merely grabbed her arm and yanked her to her feet. He shoved her up against the wall and threw his fist at her face, which caused her head to whip to the side.

Tears ran down Chris's face, and she didn't bother fighting back. She never fought back. Ever. The only difference was, this time, she was going to die. She didn't have to just handle a few painful lows, or even unconsciousness or broken bones. This time, he meant to kill… And she was going to let him, just like always.

_She was a goner._

Out of the corner of her eye, Chris saw her mom on the phone in the kitchen. She was confused at first, but became less so when she heard her mom say, "Help, please, I live at 89 Washington—"

That was as far as she got before there was a loud cracking noise and a red spot appeared on her chest. Chris watched in shock as her mother looked down at the newly made hole in her chest and then back at Domino. Chris followed her mother's line of vision to the gun in Domino's hand and put two and two together. Her jaw dropped and she let out a small squeak as she watched her mother's body slump to the floor.

"You… you killed her," Chris said softly, staring at Shelly. Tears poured out of her eyes as she exclaimed, "You killed her, you son of a bitch, you killed her! _You killed her!_"

"Just wait," he snarled, "It'll get worse. Much, much worse." He slammed the butt of the gun against Chris's head, and she too fell to the floor, unconscious. Domino frowned down at her body and said, "Aw, you're no fun." He walked into the kitchen, stepping over his former lover's body to get to the cup of coffee he'd left sitting when Chris had tried to run and sip it. He would have to wait for Chris to wake up if he was going to get any enjoyment out of this at all. It wouldn't be satisfying to just watch the last breath of air leave her body; it needed to leave in the form of a scream. A scream that came forced by his hand.

He could wait. He had all the time in the world.

* * *

Hyde sat at the dinner table with a scowl on his face, staring down at the food he'd help to prepare with nothing but anger filling his head. He was so pissed at Chris. She'd signed him up for all of that work, sending him away for almost a full twenty-four hours, and she hadn't even had the decency to show up.

He fingered the box in his pocket, pulling it out and opening it beneath the table to show a beautiful diamond ring.

_The bitch didn't even fucking show up…_

* * *

_**A/N: You guys must hate me right now! I feel so bad for Hyde. Poor baby. (Insert broken heart here.)**_

…_**Oh! And Chris, too.**_

_**Anyways, leave me a review and let me know what you think!**_

_**And Anthony… I hope this did you justice. We all love you and will for the rest of our lives. Rest in peace.**_


	32. Chapter 32

_**Author's Note: So I updated this one faster, because I felt bad about leaving you guys like that! Haha(: There's probably going to be one or two chapters after this one, and then an epilogue. So yeah. Read and review please(:**_

_**Also! I graduated from my hospital program thingy today (September twenty-sixth:D) and could not be happier. So props to me for that! :D**_

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_**This chapter, along with the rest of this story, is dedicated to Anthony. We love you, kiddo.**_

_**Review response time! :D**_

—_**Anonymous: Ahh, I know! I felt so bad about leaving you like that, hahahaha. I'll try to get this one done sooner!**_

—_**Shippolove844: I appreciate your sentiments on Anthony so much, you have no idea how much that means to me. And I don't know what's gonna happen…. I guess you'll just have to read and find out(;**_

—_**Mo: Thank you so, SO much for your detailed review! I appreciate your comments and suggestions so much. I tried to put in a little more of Domino's perspective in here, so hopefully I shed some light on the subject for you(: And I'll try to have a little more of Kitty's worrying in this chapter! I was in such a rush to get all of my ideas down that I completely forgot about her maternal instincts, haha. And I'm glad you like Chris! :D And also, BLACK VEIL BRIDES ARE THE SHIT! I love them. :D**_

—_**Whisperinginthewind: I've told you I love you so many times that you probably have it committed to memory, but I'll say it again anyways. I love you MV**_

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Domino looked down at Chris's sprawled body and scowled. The urge to lift his gun and pull the trigger was all too tempting; he wanted nothing more than to end her life. As he kept staring at her unconscious form he felt a scowl form on his face; he hated her more than anything. This was all her fault, anyway. She's the one who did this to him; made him so crazy. She drove him to this point. She forced his hand. _She made him hurt her._

Domino thought back to his life before getting involved with Shelly. He'd been a lonely man, living by himself with nobody to call his own. Sure, he'd had a temper— but he'd been relatively harmless.

And then one day, he'd been at a bar when he saw… _her. _The most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. She'd been wearing giant-ass heels, gobs of make-up, barely any clothes, and lacked a bra— but she'd been perfect in his eyes. He'd walked up to her and asked her what her name was. She'd given him one better than he'd asked for and gave him the phone number for the club she worked at.

A few months later, after their relationship— if you could still call it a relationship, what with his paying her after every session— had begun to blossom, she'd taken him back to her place, which was nothing new. The only difference was that _this _time, there was a little girl there. While Shelly had gone into the kitchen to get her client some liquor, the child had scowled at him and called him a home-wrecker. That was the first time he'd ever laid hands anybody since high school.

The next time the child had happened to be home when Domino came over, she'd seen him and ran away. She did that for the next few times after that until one day, he got fed up with her impish behavior. He'd grabbed her arm as she was fleeing and demanded why she was running; she had merely begged for him not to hit her. He'd shoved her to the ground and went home without even seeing Shelly.

After that, it just escalated. But it was her fault. _Always her fault. _After all, what right did she have to fear him? What had he ever done? As her reaction to seeing him went from ignoring it to shaking in fear to running and finally to screaming, his reactions to her increased. He'd yell, slap her, shove her… Anything to show her that he was serious. She needed to _stop. _He was just Paul, average-Joe guy from California. He'd never done anything to her. She was afraid of him, and she shouldn't have been. She had no right. She should've just left it alone while she could've.

The worst happened, though, when they saw each other on the street. The girl (whose name he did not yet know; Shelly only ever referred to her as 'the kid') froze in place, unsure of what to do. As she'd opened her mouth to scream, he'd dragged her into an alleyway as quickly as possible. He'd planned on merely keeping her quiet, but when she bit his hand and tried to scramble away, he snapped. His vision clouded and all he could see was red. His hands were red, her face was red, her blood was red. He couldn't think; he couldn't feel. All he knew is that this little girl was going to stop causing him trouble— even if he had to _make _her stop. He didn't realize what he'd done until he was running away from the scene of the crime.

They were gone for months after that. They'd just picked up and left. But the longer he went without seeing Shelly or Chris, the angrier he got. He spent hours, days, _weeks, _just contemplating what had happened. Where they'd gone. What they were doing. Why they'd left. Every second they were gone fueled his hatred towards that girl; _she'd _ruined his relationship with Shelly. It was all her fault. After that realization, he thought harder; where could they have possibly gone? Anywhere in the world, he supposed…

That's when it hit him. _Point Place, Wisconsin. _Shelly had told him once that her ex-husband lived there. It was a long shot, and he might have even gotten the name of the town wrong— but it was better than nothing.

Domino's head snapped back to the current when he heard a small groan. He looked down at the girl and grinned sadistically; his little trip down memory lane had done nothing but fuel his desire to harm her. He was ready to have some fun.

* * *

Hyde sat in the basement with a scowl on his face; he was numb. Scratch that; he was so pissed that he was becoming numb. Literally. He couldn't feel his fingers. He flexed his hand and watched his fingers curl into a fist and then unravel into his typical calloused hand.

Said hand went flying into the closest thing available, which happened to be the arm of the couch. He winced at the pain that shot up his arm and then pulled his hand back to hold it in his right and inspect it. It _looked _fine. Maybe he should ask Mrs. Forman though…

_This is what people do to you, man! _he scolded himself. _They make you weak. You _are _weak. When you were a kid, man, you used to take beatings and rape and all kinds of abuse, left and right. And now you're going to go and run crying to Mommy because you might have bruised your fist? Pathetic, man. You're pathetic._

A thought then crossed his mind, one that he had never ever considered. He'd been blaming Chris for not showing up because she was a bitch. But now…

_Maybe that's why she didn't come…_

* * *

Chris let out a small groan as tiny waves of pain began to spasm through her body. She felt a slight tingling sensation, like bugs were crawling all over her, and then there was nothing but shooting pains coming from every which way. Every square inch of her body felt like it was exploding.

Then, all of a sudden, she felt her side go supernova. She didn't even have the clarity to instinctually curl up in a ball; she merely let her jaw drop open and close shut.

She heard a loud noise, and then another set of fireworks going off in her body as she was lifted off of the floor. She heard a voice shout, "Everybody _back away! _Leave! I'll— I'll kill her!" She was allowed only a brief moment for the fear to set into her core before something cool was pressed against her temple. There was a loud bang, and she waited for death to come. She waited for the last burst of pain she would ever feel. She waited for the last scream she would ever emit… but it never came.

She heard a small squeak from next to her, and then she felt her body fall to the floor. There was another gunshot only a split-second after she'd heard the last one, and _that's _when she felt the burst of pain. That's when she heard herself scream. That's when she saw that little white light…

There were footsteps coming towards her, but she didn't care. She was dying; nothing mattered anymore. A wave of red flashed behind her eyes. The last thing that flashed through her mind was an image of Hyde's face, and then she saw and heard nothing.

* * *

_**A/N: Oooh, CLIFFHANGER! :O**_

_**Sorry this took me so long! I thought it'd be quick and easy, but it took a lot longer than I'd expected haha. And it kinda sucks, not gonna lie. But let me know what you think?(:**_

_**Review please?(:**_


	33. Chapter 33

_**Author's Note: This chapter actually gets a two-part dedication: to Anthony for being absolutely amazing even in death, and to whisperinginthewind for helping me come up with so many ideas for this chapter— and, actually, almost this entire story. So yeah. Enjoy. (:**_

_**ALSO! Everybody who hasn't yet, go over to whisperinginthewind's page and read/review her story. Please. For me. I'll appreciate it sooo much! :D**_

_**And RIP to Jeff, who lost his life... I didn't know you, pal, but from what I hear you were a great guy. The fact that I didn't know you and now I won't get the chance to is killing me. You'll be missed, big guy, and the world will miss you. It's a much darker place without you here.**_

* * *

_**Review response time!**_

—_**shippolove844: Sorry this update took so long! Hopefully it's worth your while?(:**_

—_**Jennamarie: You're my hundredth review… Which means, of course, that I will love you forever! :D I'm so glad that you like this story and (unfortunately) it will be coming to a close very soon… But once I'm done with this one, whisperinginthewind and I are going to be working on a story together that's gonna be pretty kick-ass! :D And I feel like I probably should've understood the "blue balls" reference…**_

* * *

Donna was sitting in the kitchen with her dad eating cereal when the telephone rang. The two stared at each other for a few moments before Bob finally let out a defeated sigh and went over to answer it. "Hello?"

Within the time span of a minute, his face went from being red with anger to white with fear to a combination of both. He listened to the person on the other line for another few minutes before managing to say a husky, "Y-yeah, okay. Thanks for calling."

"Dad? What happened?" Donna asked slowly. Based on her father's reactions, she was unsure if she actually wanted to know.

"Come next door with me, kitten. I'll tell everybody all at once," he said simply. Donna frowned but followed him as he made his way across their lawn into the Formans' kitchen.

"God damnit, Bob, don't you have your own family to bother?" Red demanded when the Pinciottis walked into the kitchen.

"It's not time for one of your jokes right now, Red," Bob said sternly. His hands were clenched into fists, and they were shaking.

"What happened?" Kitty asked, her voice dripping with concern. He was never like this.

"I— I need to eat something," he decided. He took Hyde's place at the lunch table and grabbed a sandwich from the plate in the middle of it. He was halfway through chewing his first bite when he looked up and noticed that all eyes were on him.

"Spit it out, Bob," Red growled. He didn't particularly like his neighbor to begin with, and if he was going to interrupt his meal… Well, Bob had better have a damn good reason.

"Chris is in the hospital," he said through a mouth full of ham and cheese.

"Bob? Bob, what do you mean, Chris is in the hospital?" Kitty asked after a moment's silence.

Bob didn't respond, and they all sat in silence looking at one another in despair. Finally, Eric got the courage to ask, "What happened?"

"What happened to what?" Hyde asked as he strolled into the kitchen. He paused when he saw everyone's impassive faces before inquiring, "What's going on?"

"Honey, you might want to sit down," Kitty said softly. Hyde scowled at her; he hated when this happened. How was it that the only time something bad went down, he was last to find out?

"Just tell me," he said. When everyone averted his eyes and tears began to silently fall from Donna's face, his anger was replaced with worry. He watched Eric get up and hug his girlfriend and wondered—

_His girlfriend._

"Chris," he announced out loud as he put the pieces together. He looked at all of his friends' faces, and his suspicions were confirmed. "What happened? I swear to God, I'll—"

Bob cleared his throat and decided to begin the story. "She's in the hospital. Paul got to her."

Hyde felt his heart drop into his stomach as he registered that. _Domino put her in the hospital. I should've known when she didn't come that something was wrong… I should've… I should've… _His eyes snapped up to meet Bob's as he asked in a voice he barely recognized as his own, "How bad?"

"Pretty bad," he said. "They said that… that she…" He cleared his throat again and thought better of what he had been going to say. "She's in surgery. He beat her up pretty bad. And… he, uh… Shot her."

Hyde's hands curled up, and his nails dug into his palm. His mind didn't register the pain, or the gasps from those around him, or when Red muttered, "Son of a bitch." All he could focus on right now was his anger. "I swear to fucking God, I'm going to kill him. No— I'll make him _wish _he was dead. Death will be a fucking godsend when I'm done with him."

For once, Kitty didn't tell him that he was going to go to hell for using the lord's name in vain. Even if she'd wanted to, her speech would've been interrupted by Bob telling Hyde, "He's already dead. They shot him, and when he was falling his finger slipped up on the trigger. Got her in the stomach."

Hyde's anger began to melt into worry, but before he could let that get to him he quickly switched it back to rage.

_Why didn't you protect her? _he demanded. _Why didn't you save her? If that was you, she would've jumped right in front of that bullet to save you. Where didn't you do that for her, huh? Why'd you let her get hurt? Why'd you let him hurt her? I swear to God, Hyde, you're the stupidest son of a bitch I've ever known._

"Honey?" Kitty placed her hand on Hyde's arm, and he flinched away from her touch. She tried not to be too offended at that as she told him, "We're all going to head over to the hospital. Would you like to come?"

He nodded stiffly and said with a very much forced calmness, "Let me just go get my shades."

* * *

The gang all walked into the main doors of the hospital and stared around. Red and Kitty instantly went to the reception desk to find out more about Chris. Donna and Eric went over to the opposite corner to discuss the current situation, and Jackie dragged Kelso over into a corner to yell at him over paying more attention to the game he was playing than her. Fez followed them, leaving Hyde all by his lonesome. He paced for a little while, but his feet proved to be incapable of keeping up with his racing thoughts, and so he stopped. After being trapped in his own head for a few minutes too long, he got so pissed off that he turned and punched the wall.

He pulled his hand back and studied it, a wince forming on his face. It was just his friggen luck; he hadn't looked where his fist was going and punched through a picture frame. He scowled down at his bleeding knuckles and pulled a piece of glass out of his skin before shaking his hand out.

_Fuck. That hurt._

Eric looked over at Hyde just in time to see his display of anger. He excused himself from Donna and walked up to his de facto brother before asking cautiously, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fucking _fantastic,_" Hyde snapped sarcastically. "My stupidity got my girlfriend shot, and for all I know she's _dead _right now! If I hadn't been such an arrogant dillhole, and if I hadn't been so busy throwing myself a friggen pity party because she didn't show up the other day, then she'd probably be perfectly fine right now! We'd probably be sitting on the couch watching Three's Company or some shit! But since I _am _an arrogant dillhole, and I _did _overlook the obvious, she… she could be… " Hyde's voice broke and he looked away from Eric's gaze as he felt tears threaten.

Even Hyde's signature shades couldn't hide what was occurring. Eric stared at Hyde's red face blankly for a few moments before saying slowly, "Man, are you… crying? It's... It's gonna be alright." He awkwardly put his hand on Hyde's shoulder, not quite sure how to comfort him.

Hyde looked back up at Eric and cast him his typical scowl as soon as he realized what he was doing. "Get bent, Forman! I'm not crying!" He barely even had enough time to smack Eric's arm away from his body before a doctor walked into the lobby holding a clipboard.

He shifted his glasses on his face as he stared down at his clipboard. He gazed around the waiting room and called, "Christina Steele?"

The entire gang came up to the doctor and stared at him expectantly. He looked over all of their faces, smiled, and said, "I suppose our little patient is quite the popular one, hmm?"

Jackie let out a sinister grin and said, "Oh, yeah. She's _popular, _alright."

Hyde looked over at Jackie with a murderous gaze. Even with Chris in the hospital, possibly dying, possibly _dead, _she couldn't give up her petty jealously. Was she really that pathetic?

_Of course she is, _Hyde thought drily. _She's Jackie Burkhart._

The doctor smiled around at the group that had come to support the injured teen and said, "Her condition is no longer critical, so you guys can come in and see her, if you'd like. Follow me over to room two-sixteen."

Everyone began to follow him, but before they could get very far Hyde cleared his throat and said, "Wait." Everybody stopped and turned to face him, and he could feel himself getting worked up as he asked, "Would you guys mind if I went in first? Alone?"

Before anyone else could respond, Kelso cut in, "Wait, that's not fair! How come Hyde gets to see her first?"

Fez rolled his eyes and placed his hand on his less-intellectual friend's shoulder and said, "Because, little buddy. He is in love."

"I don't love her, man," Hyde corrected him defensively. "I just… I… Aw, screw it!" He stormed past everybody and walked into Chris's hospital room. He stared at her frail body and froze for a second before remembering to shut the door behind him. He took off his sunglasses and walked towards her. "Hey."

Chris registered his beautiful face, which she hadn't thought she would ever see again. She had also never thought that she would see him looking like _this. _His eyes were watery, and his face had a red tint to it that was gradually fading. _Had he been crying? _Chris's eyes caught sight of something red moving, and she flashed her line of vision down to his hand. It was cut open and bleeding, with a few little pieces of glass stuck in it. Chris kept staring for a minute before she swallowed the lump in her throat and finally managed to say, "Oh, shit, Hyde. That's my fault, isn't it?"

Hyde completely ignored the pang her comment set in his stomach and pulled a chair over so that it was right next to her bad. He straddled the chair and fought the urge to assure her that it hadn't been her fault; nothing was her fault. It was his fault. All of it. He looked at her wax-like complexion and inquired, "How're you doing?"

"Dandy," she said with a bitterly sarcastic undertone. "Getting shot… it's fucking great. You should try it sometime."

Hyde felt the last of his Zen leave him as he said, "I'm so sorry, man. I should've stopped him. I should've been with you. I should've known. I should've protected you… This is all my fault, man. I'm so sorry."

"It wasn't your fault—"

He shook his head, unwilling to hear more false reassurances. "I was so mad at you. I thought you had blown me off. That maybe you didn't like me anymore. I guess I figured that everyone else had left me, so why wouldn't you, y'know?" A wry smile appeared on his face, but was lost after just a moment. "And then… I thought I really did lose you. I thought that… that you were…" Hyde's voice broke off, and he once again had to avert his gaze to avoid completely losing it.

Chris stared at the side of his face and silently waited for him to go on. When she realized that he was incapable of doing so, she blinked back her shock and said softly, "Wow. You really care about me."

Hyde looked back up at her and just took in her features. Why did she look so surprised? He felt the overwhelming desire to take out the ring he always kept with him and show her, right then and there, how much he cared for and about her. His hand was halfway to his pocket when he realized how stupid that was; she'd probably laugh in his face and say no without even stopping to think about it. Then she'd dump him, and then she and Kelso would live on to make the stupidest, prettiest babies that the world had ever known.

Hyde forced a smirk on his face and looked her right in the eyes as he decided on the smart-ass remark that would best fit this situation. "I'm just in it for the sex."

"Really?" Chris cocked an eyebrow; she had missed him, so much. She didn't even mind that he was being an asshole. It was just who he was. "Because as I recall, you haven't been getting any."

He was caught between groaning at her little reminder and grinning at her remark; he'd taught her well. He settled on responding with another asshole move as he tilted his head to the side and asked, "Why am I with you again?"

"Hmm, let me think," Chris said slowly, putting her finger to her chin. She tapped it several times before his words at the water tower came back to her and she quoted, "Let's see… I'm smart, I'm hot, I'm evil when I want to be, I'm an angel when I don't, I'm _'bad-frickin'-ass' ,_ I'm into all of the shit you are, and… well, I'm basically fucking perfect."

Hyde smirked yet again at her little reference before shooting back with her simple, "You know, you just told me you loved me."

Chris's expression became radiantly happy when she realized that he remembered that night just as vividly as she did. "Yeah, well, I'm doing a lot of shit I don't usually do tonight. Don't get too used to it." There was a short pause before an even wider grin broke out on her face and she said, "I can't believe you remember that."

"Me neither," he agreed with mock sincerity.

She frowned at him and crossed her arms over her chest and she forced her lips into a pout. "You're so mean!"

Hyde rolled his eyes at her. A smile came onto his face unwillingly as he said a silent, _Of course I remember. _When he saw a smile light up her face as well, he leaned in and brushed his lips lightly against hers. Just before Hyde could pull away, Kelso stormed into the room. Hyde scowled at his best friend and demanded, "Seriously? This shit again?"

Kelso stared at them indignantly for a moment before pointing at how close they were and demanding, "WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?"

Hyde scowled at him and demanded, "Get out of here!" When Kelso made no move to leave, Hyde feigned a lunge at him. Kelso instantly turned around and sprinted out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Hyde grinned to himself before turning back to face Chris.

He didn't waste any time leaning in to kiss her again, but this time he forgot to be as gentle as he was had been the last time. She retreated from his lips almost immediately after contact and said a quick, "Ow."

Hyde sat back in his chair and mentally smacked himself as a second wave of guilt rolled over him. How could he have been so stupid? He hurt her again. Why did he always have to do that? He felt his fists clench at his sides as anger at himself began to overwhelm all else. He was so sick of fucking up. He was so sick of hurting her…

Hyde heard the doorknob turn, so he quickly put his sunglasses on to hide the raging war inside of himself. He looked up at the door and managed to catch a glimpse of Chris rolling her eyes at him. He cocked an eyebrow at her, but the smart-ass remark Chris was going to make in turn was cut off by Mrs. Forman saying, "Hello Steven— Oh, Chris! Hi, honey!" she looked like she was about to say something else, but she stopped and instead said, "I was wondering if you were ready for more visitors, or if you two wanted more alone time?"

Chris opened her mouth to tell Kitty that she wanted more time but was interrupted by Hyde saying swiftly, "You can send everybody in." He and Chris exchanged looks. This time Chris was the one with her eyebrow cocked, and Hyde found himself rolling his eyes. He felt bad overriding Chris's desires, but he was afraid that if he let himself talk anymore, he might actually break down. He couldn't let that happen.

Just before Kitty reached the door to leave, Chris called impishly, "Mrs. Forman?" She looked the blonde woman in the eyes and said with the meek voice of a child, "I'm really sorry to take away from our time with the gang, but I think that before you go get everybody you should take a look at Hyde's hand."

"Oh, dear, what happened?" Kitty asked worriedly. She rushed over to Hyde and went into Nurse Mode, chastising him for not telling her immediately and the dangers of self-inflicted injuries. He shot Chris an evil glare, but she just smiled back smugly.

Kitty brought Hyde over to the sink and quickly fixed up his hand before walking out of the room. Hyde sat back in his chair and informed his girlfriend, "You suck."

"It's funny, 'cause I don't," she retorted, making yet another crack at how he wasn't getting any. He felt his face turn into a scowl as he felt his mind melting into the likes of Fez's. Why did she always feel the need to frustrate him? Did she get some kind of sick satisfaction from it? Because if she wanted satisfaction, there were other things they could be doing…

Chris snapped her fingers in his face to get his attention and demanded, "Hyde. I don't know what you're thinking, but you're getting that look that Fez gets every time a girl walks in the room, and the idea that you're capable of that level of creepiness is kind of scary."

Hyde didn't even have time to come back with a witty retort, because that was when the long line of people began coming in.

First came Bob, who came in eating a burger and barely even acknowledged Chris's presence. Next was Red, who grunted his disapproval of her condition. Then Donna came in, and lightly hugged Chris. After Donna came Mrs. Forman, who had already been in the room and merely took a seat by the window. Next was Fez, who gave her a piece of candy and winked at her, grinning all the while. She smiled at that, but her grin was wiped away when Jackie walked in and scoffed at her. Eric came in next, waving at her and smiling as if seeing her was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Finally, Kelso sauntered into the room. Completely forgetting about her injured state, he pulled her into one of his extra-tight hugs, which he reserved for all of the chesty girls. She fought to keep her composure as his hug lifted her off the bed, but she couldn't completely hide the pain, and a wince settled on her features. Hyde instantly saw her grimace and leaped to his feet. "I'm gonna kick your ass, man."

Kelso quickly took a step back from Chris, releasing her in the process. Hyde took a few steps towards Kelso, but stopped as soon as he heard a small squeak come from Chris. He rushed to her side immediately, worry creasing his brow as he asked, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, it just hurt when I hit back against the bed," she told him. She looked at his distraught expression and soothed, "It's okay."

The room went silent as Hyde contentedly looked at his girlfriend's face; they were so unadjusted to being around his caring side that they didn't know how to react. After a minute or two, the silence was interrupted by Kelso muttering under his breath, "Whipped."

* * *

Hyde sat outside the hospital room with Eric, tapping his foot impatiently. Almost everyone else had gone home; only he, Eric, and Donna remained. Donna was staying because she had declared a "girl's night" to make Chris feel more at home in this hellhole of a hospital. Jackie had been invited, too, but she'd claimed that she'd rather wear cheap polyester than spend the night on a cold floor with the "poor-folk". Hyde had stayed in case Chris needed anything— or, at least, that was what he kept telling himself. In reality, he was scared. He was terrified that if he let her out of his sight, she would get hurt again. He couldn't handle losing her.

Eric, however, didn't know _why _he was there. He would much rather be at home, sleeping in his bed or playing with his action figures or… or having sex with _Donna. _Instead of doing any of those wonderful things, he was stuck sitting on the floor of a brightly-lit hallway in a hospital, where dead people and sick people and crying people walked by regularly. The more he thought about it, the less he understood his purpose. He turned to Hyde and inquired, "Why am I here, again?"

"Because almost nineteen years ago, you mom and dad lost a lawsuit against a condom company and couldn't afford the abortion," Hyde said simply, reciting the old speech Edna used to give him would ask that question. He looked up at Eric and smirked.

"Man, I'm so out of here," Eric said, not recognizing the familiarity of those words. All he knew was that Hyde had burned him.

"Wait," Hyde said quickly. He'd asked Eric to stay with him for a reason, and not just because the thought of sitting next to a twig amused him. He'd been debating this next move for hours, but now… it was the moment of truth. If he didn't do it know, he never would— and Eric would be gone, leaving him more than a littlelonely. Hyde reached into his pocket and pulled out the velvet box, opening it to reveal the diamond ring.

Before Hyde could say anything, Eric choked out, "Hyde. I don't know what to say." A grin spread across his face as he proclaimed, "Yes, yes, a million times yes!"

A scowl clouded Hyde's features as he clamped the box shut and responded, "Forget it. Just go home, Foreplay."

Eric stopped and watched Hyde fumble to put the box back in his pocket. His gaze shifted back up to the stoner's face as he said slowly, "Hyde, what was that?"

Hyde rolled his eyes. Eric always had a knack for asking the stupidest questions— he wasn't even sure why he'd expected for Eric to be able to help him. "What did it look like, man?" He watched Eric try and find the right words for a few seconds before repeating, "Just forget it, man."

"That wasn't what I meant, Hyde," he told him. He looked him dead in the eyes as he inquired, "I meant, like… why did you show it to me?"

"I don't know," Hyde lied. He saw in Eric's eyes that he wasn't planning on accepting that bullshit response, so he sighed and repeated, "I don't know, man. I guess I thought you could help me. Give me advice or whatever."

Eric paused, deliberating that. Normally he would make a crack at how he was the worst person to be asking, but he decided against it. "Only if I get to be best man at your wedding," he instead answered.

Hyde nodded and told him, "First things first, man. We have to figure out a way to get her to say yes."

* * *

_**A/N: Holy shit, that was a lot. Sorry about that. (: After this there's only one more chapter, which is going to be the epilogue. Oh my gosh, the time flies.**_

_**Anyways, please review. And if you don't review this one, be sure to review the next one! It's my last chapter writing for Chris, so I want it to go out with a BANG.**_

_**I love you all.**_


	34. Epilogue

_**Author's Note: As per usual, this chapter is dedicated to Anthony and Whisperinginthewind. I loveyouloveyouloveyou. You have no idea.**_

* * *

_**Review response time!**_

—_**Mega Awesome Marx: Good, I'm glad! :D And we need to start talking again, things are so much boring without you in my life hahaha(:**_

—_**Shippolove844: it's not the wedding or kids, but hopefully this chapter suffices?(: **_

—_**Whisperinginthewind: KATIE. LET IT GO. I WAS YOUNG AND FOOLISH WHEN THAT HAPPENED, OKAY? I feel guilty enough as it is… And oh my gosh, your reaction video made my life. Morgan Freeman MV **_

_**—The Nowhere Girl: I know! My poor baby. I felt sooo bad hurting her, like you have no idea.**_

* * *

Chris looked down at her feet as she sat alone in the hospital room. She's been stuck in this place for three weeks, and she was extremely relieved to finally be getting out. In fact, she _should've _been out last week, but Mrs. Forman had convinced the rest of the staff to make her stay longer 'for safety reasons'. Chris almost laughed just thinking about it.

She heard the door creak open and looked up; she had expected to be alone for the next few hours. The doctors rarely checked in on her anymore unless she sent for them, and everyone else had left. They claimed that they were 'tired', but she knew almost for a fact that they were setting up a 'surprise' party for her return.

Hyde paused in the doorway, hesitating as he once again reconsidered his decision. _Are you sure, man? _He rolled his eyes at the notion; of _course _he was sure. This was Chris.

Hyde strode in the room and quickly reached into his back pocket and pulled out the little black box for the last time. Before he could talk himself out of proposing yet again, he tossed it over to Chris.

She reached up and caught it with both hands before pulling it down to her lap and staring at it. Her brow furrowed in confusion; what the hell was the box for? She opened it and stared down at the diamond ring, her mind even more muddled than ever. _What the hell?_

Her jaw fell slack as she realized that she held in her hand an engagement ring. She slammed her mouth shut so that she didn't look like a complete and utter moron, and when she was finally able to form a coherent sentence she let out a strangled, "Oh my God, Hyde. It's beautiful."

Hyde leaned against the wall of the hospital room and stared at her face intently, waiting for a definitive answer. When she didn't say anything further than her comment on the ring, he prompted, "Well?"

Chris looked from the ring to his face, and couldn't help but notice how his eyes were boring holes into hers. She cocked an eyebrow in a fashion much like his and informed him, "You didn't say anything, jackass."

He rolled his eyes at her antics; he should've known that she'd try and push him to go all-out. He mimicked her facial expression and decided against letting her have the satisfaction of hearing him pour his heart out to her. "Are we getting hitched, or what?"

Chris couldn't help but let out a laugh at his untraditional ways. She let out a sigh and looked back down at her ring before placing at on her finger and examining it. She shook her head sadly and looked up at him before announcing, "I cannot believe that I'm marrying such a complete and utter _asshole._"

A grin burst its way out onto Hyde's face as he made her way over to her side. He rested one hand against the hospital bed for leverage as he pressed his lips against Chris's. She smiled into him and leaned back, and he slowly lifted one knee onto the bed before pulling up the other one so that he was hovering over her. He pulled his face away from Chris's to ask softly, "Are you sure?"

She let out yet another laugh and questioned, "Do you really want me to take the time to come to my senses?" He rolled his eyes and pressed his lips against hers again, but she pushed his chest and forced him away before adding with a mock tone of sincerity, "I mean… after all, we _are _in the hospital… and I mean, sex before marriage is _so _morally corrupt—"

He rolled his eyes at her and moved back in to kiss her again, but she repeated her action to prevent him from doing so. "No, no, Hyde, you're right. I mean, this is all just so _wrong, _and I wouldn't want to—"

"Okay, Chris? I get it. You can shut up now," he informed her. She let out a laugh before grabbing a fistful of his shirt and pulling his face down to meet hers.

* * *

_**A/N: I figured that having Hyde finally get some would be a great place to end this :D**_

_**Oh my gosh, I had no idea how upsetting the writing of this chapter would be. Like legit, I put off writing this for so long because… Well, quite frankly, I'm going to miss Chris. ): This was my first-ever FanFiction story, and the fact that it's over is SO DEPRESSING.**_

_**I want to thank sooo many people here. All of my reviewers, followers, and favorite-ers (whisperinginthewind, Marla's Lost, TL22, shippolove844, outsiders83, and Mega Awesome Marx, especially!)… you're all so amazing. If I could do something to show you guys how much I love you, believe me, I would. And if you think of anything that I can do, let me know!**_

_**Oh goshh. I also want to thank Jamie, for keeping up with my story and always reading the chapters as soon as I publish… BAHAHAHAHAHAHHA. I couldn't get through that one with a straight face. :D But I love you anyways MV**_

_**And Katie. Katiekatiekatiekatiekatie. Oh my gosh, Katie. You have no idea how much I love you, like you are legit my life. From your helpful comments to your amazing ideas to our incredible conversations to our phail hearts… it's all just so great. Seriously, let's get hitched. If it weren't for you, either Chris would be dead or Hyde would be lying in bed with a bullet on his shoulder and… GOSHHH I'm a horrible person. But you fix all of that. MV**_

_**But anyways, guys, this is the end of the road for Give Me Wings… but keep a look out, because pretty soon Katie and I will be working on a story together. It'll be freaking fantastic.**_

_**But, in the meantime, you guys should all go over and read her story. It's pretty amazing, not gonna lie.**_

_**Okay, so, I love you all SOOOO MUCH, and I apologize for the long-ass author's note, and I guess this is goodbye…**_

_**But say farewell in a review for me! Please?(:**_


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